Lasting Friendships
by 122 Generation
Summary: If nothing values more than friendship with Keith, their Pokemon, and their co-workers to two unsuspecting Rangers, how will their duty serving Almia put that fragile friendship to the test? Will focus particularly on Operation Brighton, and another 3 Quests and 6 Missions. To be fair: this is pure friendship fanfic.
1. Pachirisu: Friends from the Start

**Note: this is purely focused on the friendships Kate and Kellyn have between their friends and Pokemon. There will be no romance in this story, to be fair. In particular, the Kellyn I play in the game really does have a Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia following him, and I sort of got attached to them a while later.**

**Operation Brighton will come in due time! In a few chapters or so, because the first few chapters are about several Missions in the game.**

**Indeed, in this fanfic, I will write what a writer will never think of doing, and it's already been written: Operation Brighton. I promise I will upload 11 chapters of the story if you're interested!**

**This chapter will focus on the Rookie Mission "Soothe Pokemon on the Beach!"**

* * *

_**Chapter one: Pachirisu: Friends from the Start**_

The sunny and clear skies in Vientown simply beamed down on the delicate beach west of the community. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a time to relax on the beach and maybe go for a swim. But that was not the case for most of the members of the Vientown Ranger Base, who happened to be stationed at the edge of the outlook above (quite simply, a cliff top).

Ranger Leader Barlow, along with Luana, Crawford, and Elaine, sat on a picnic mat lying on the grass, and watched the wide ocean below…

"Hey, Barlow, when's lunch?" Crawford asked. "We have the essentials of a picnic: a nice view and a mat. But where's the food?"

"Oh, it'll come," Barlow replied, smiling. "Just wait a little longer and enjoy the view."

"Barlow!"

* * *

Truth be told, a considerable distance away, at the bottom of the high ground, three students of the Ranger Academy were breathlessly trudging an impossibly heavy package near the ground. On the two sides, Kellyn and Kate were using two hands each to keep the basket moving, and Keith held the basket very tightly from the back to keep it from falling.

"Nooooooooooooo!" Kate screamed. "Now we have to bring the thing up at least a thousand steps! I won't have this!"

"I approve this message," Keith said.

"So do I," Kellyn added.

Kate, hearing their approvals, was just about to release her fingers from the basket when both voices of Kellyn and Keith screamed for her to not do so.

"Gosh, what's wrong?" she asked innocently. "I just wanted a little break."

* * *

At the top, with the Vientown Ranger crew patiently waiting for their lunch, their patience was finally rewarded with the sight of three exhausted students hauling a massive basket. The girl who held the basket on one side collapsed on the ground, tired. This, in turn, made the basket fall on its side.

Or at least it nearly did.

The other two boys who were also holding the basket were immediately alarmed at the sight of their collapsed friend and quickly brought the basket to level.

Finally, to finish everything, the two boys pushed the basket toward the picnic mat. The redhead, exhausted just like the former, collapsed on the ground. This left the remaining boy to hand the basket over to the group on his own.

"Ugh…" he groaned.

"So… the extremely important parcel. I fully expect it to be safe," Barlow said.

The boy wanted to say something, but was completely exhausted.

"Hand it over, but be gentle," Barlow warned. "One careless shake and it's ka-plow."

So the student did, and within moments Barlow shouted, "All right, people! Gather 'round! Lunch's here!"

The three students Keith, Kellyn, and Kate held expressions of nothing but shock as the Vientown Ranger crew saw Barlow place the basket on the mat, opened it, and brought out the edible contents, along with a smaller basket of drinks.

But before everyone could start eating, they went through some quick self-introductions (Barlow the leader, Crawford and Luana the local Area Rangers, and Elaine the Mechanic). Unfortunately for Kellyn and Kate, Keith the loudmouth did the introductions for them.

* * *

As the meal was underway, Kellyn and Kate went around engaging in friendly conversations with the newly met Vientown Ranger crew while grabbing some wraps to enjoy: from Luana's experience with the same 'prank' of hauling a heavy picnic basket by herself, to Barlow's and Elaine's opinions about Vientown.

But what really stood out in particular was a conversation with Crawford…

"You went through Nabiki Beach, you two?" he asked. "Passed by it, maybe?"

"You got it. Why?" Kellyn and Kate said simultaneously.

"Well, back in the day –" Crawford started, but was cut off by a few giggles from Kate.

"That makes you sound so old–" Kate started, but a hand quickly clamped over her mouth by Kellyn. Fortunately, the damage was NOT done.

Kellyn glanced apologetically at Crawford, who took it only lightheartedly and went on with his conversation like nothing happened.

"I first met my Partner Pokémon there," he said. "Maybe you could yours there too."

Basically, the entire crew had barely started on their second course of food when, out of the corners of their eyes, they noticed a boy hustle up the stairs with an anxious face.

"Help! Rangers!" he cried. "Pokémon have gone wild!"

"Calm down, man!" Crawford shouted. "Relax! You're talking nonsense!"

Barlow abandoned his food, got up, and rushed over to see the boy. Everyone else merely followed the Ranger Leader with their eyes, but they had their full attention with them.

"What seems to be the matter?" Barlow asked calmly. "Take it slow."

The boy nodded. "We were all innocently playing at the beach like normal. But then, just five minutes ago, they started to act strange… and then they appeared agitated. These Pokémon have surrounded my girlfriend as we speak!"

Eyebrows rose from all directions.

_Oh… so this is a love matter, eh?_ Kate thought. _Go figure_.

"Alright, men!" Barlow shouted, but the looks of Kate, Luana, and Elaine made him hastily add, "And women! Let's head down to the beach!"

* * *

Dashing down tens of steps was all in a work's day for a Pokémon Ranger. Everyone, that is, except for the three already-exhausted Student Rangers who winced and whined at the thought of hurrying down more steps when they had their fill of going up the same steps.

Upon arrival at the beach, all the Rangers (Students included) could tell at an instant what was wrong: a crowd of Pokémon had encircled a particular girl on the beach! Two Pachirisu, a Starly, a Munchlax, and a couple of Shellos were running around in circles!

"We have to clear this mess up! ASAP!" Barlow barked.

"What happened to them?" Crawford questioned.

"Look at them, they could be dancing for all we know," Elaine added.

Everyone glanced at Elaine.

"What?" she said.

Mr. Woodward, the Vientown woodcrafter, shook his head in disagreement. "They're friendly and quiet usually! They're not like themselves!"

The crowd looked over to the beach girl once more, who was crying and pleading for help.

Barlow immediately turned around and prepared to give the assignment. "Okay, Crawford and I will capture the Shellos. Luana, Keith, Kate, and Kellyn will capture the others. Are we clear?"

"YES, SIR!" they cheered.

Indeed, it was an emergency and a one-day internship, but this was ridiculous! Ideally, the mission they were assigned was "Soothe Pokémon on the Beach!"

As everyone hurried down to the beach, they went for their respective targets. Everyone that is, except for Kate and Kellyn, who stayed behind to listen to Mr. Woodward.

"They're really good Pokémon, really. I have no idea what's going on in their heads," he said. "Pachirisu, Munchlax, and Starly. They're all adorable and reliable too. Why, if I were a Ranger, I'd be honoured to be having them by my side as a Partner. Please, calm them down."

Kate nodded to Kellyn, who assured, "We will."

As the twosome went to support Keith and Luana, they found that they hadn't started capturing their targets at all. On top of it all, Kate and Kellyn noticed that Keith and Luana were sweating _very_ badly.

Bothered by this, Kellyn said, "What's going on?!"

"I can't pick who to capture!" Keith nervously said.

"You go ahead, you two!" Luana quickly ordered. "I'll pick who to capture later!"

Kate looked around at the four Pokémon on the shore. On her left was the Munchlax, and on her right was the Starly. The two Pachirisu stood in the middle running back and forth.

"OKAY," Kate flashed her School Styler directly at the Pachirisu. "Capture on!"

* * *

The Capture Disc from Kate's Styler burst toward both Pachirisu and began to encircle them.

"Hey, KATE, NOT FAIR!" Kellyn roared and fired his own Capture Disc in the direction of the Pachirisu as well. No way was he going to let Kate take ALL the glory and pleasure in capturing the Pokémon. Unfortunately, Kate was near halfway done in capturing her targets.

At least it was until the Pachirisu attacked Kate's ring, and so Kellyn chose the time to act.

Mainly, in plain sight, the twosome was drawing circles with their Stylers. But in reality it was a be-all end-all competition between them. Never had Almia seen, lest to forget the world, two Student Rangers perform such aggressive captures.

"This Pachirisu is MINE!" Kate roared.

"_This_ Pachirisu is mine!" Kellyn shouted back, but was overpowered by Kate's.

On their monitors, the gauges showed that the Pokémon were very close to being captured. Kellyn was just about to finish his capture when Kate finished hers first, capturing the first Pachirisu.

"Score!" she cheered, and only right after she said that did Kellyn complete _his_ capture.

"Same here…" he muttered.

"Not as good as mine," Kate added, and Kellyn was left speechless.

_I don't know about you, Kate,_ Kellyn thought. _But that was totally uncalled for._

* * *

Barlow turned around to look at his fellow friends. "How's it going, people? Your captures successful?"

"You bet, Leader," Crawford called back. "How about you, Luana?"

"I got hung up a little at the start, just in the slightest," Luana replied, patting the Munchlax beside her. "How about the students?"

Keith the loudmouth, not even allowing Kate and Kellyn to even utter a sound, shouted, "We students were successful with our captures too!"

He proudly looked at the Starly by his side.

Kate and Kellyn looked at their newly-captured Pachirisu, who in turn looked up at them with some sense of affection, but Kate and Kellyn couldn't return the same emotion, as the atmosphere was broken by Elaine (on the high ground).

"There have been no Pokémon or human injuries from this perspective," she reported.

Barlow, relieved, gave his remaining orders. "The Pokémon seemed to have calmed down too at last. Come on people, let's release them."

The Pokémon were released beginning with the two Shellos, and then the Starly and Munchlax followed. Kate and Kellyn wanted to release their Pachirisu, but somehow there was no effect. Faces of confusion filled Kate and Kellyn.

"You're free to go now…" Kate coaxed, but the two Pachirisu stayed put.

Kellyn became aware that he and Kate had become the center of attention, with every eye turned to them. In an instant, he felt embarrassed.

"What's the matter?" Barlow said, confused. "Someone must have, or at least _should_ have, taught you how to release Pokémon by now!"

"Oh, don't tell me," Crawford slowly put on a grin. "You've grown attached to those Pokémon?"

But the commotion was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps, with the beach boy and the beach girl approaching them.

"Thank you Rangers for saving my girlfriend!" he happily waved to them.

The beach girl had other matters to say, "We heard strange noises from the sea, and when we looked we saw a massive cargo ship pull away and disappear over the horizon… and then, suddenly, I was surrounded by all those Pokémon. They must have been startled by the ship!"

The beach fell silent, only to be broken by the sound of shuffling by the Pachirisu's feet.

"Well," Barlow cleared his throat. "Whatever happened, I'm glad the situation's over. Crawford, Luana, sweep the beach for any more abnormalities to be safe, okay?"

'Roger' and 'Understood' were the automatic responses by Crawford and Luana respectively. Afterwards, Barlow turned to the Student Rangers once more.

"Well done on your captures, you three," he complimented. "This is no small part, as we managed to calm down all the Pokémon. In short, as we Rangers call it, it's a Mission Clear!"

Posing, the three students performed their trademark actions.

Barlow was nonetheless impressed. "Well, I'll be! You've even got Ranger poses now? Alright, people, let's head back to the base!"

Everyone just started to take a few steps when Barlow suddenly halted, his expression alert.

"Oh, hold on a sec, we need to finish our lunch!"

* * *

An hour or two later, with the three Student Rangers undergoing debriefing, and with the remainder of the lunch sandwiches 'cleared', it was time to leave the Ranger Base.

"Don't forget those captures you did today," Barlow said.

"It'd be neat if the three of you could be assigned to our Base," Crawford simply approved. "We'll sure to be keeping you busy delivering our lunches."

Luana winked at them. "Crawford _was_ really looking forward to seeing you guys from the Outdoor Class again. It was pretty much all he talked about."

"Your Ranger poses were really cute," Elaine added.

Kate and Kellyn beamed at them (in which they were enthusiastically returned), but Keith the loudmouth (**again!**) tried to take all the credit.

"Everyone, thank you so much!" he declared. "We'll never forget what we experienced today, I'm sure of it! Thanks again, and good-bye!"

Keith ran out of the Base just like that. Kate and Kellyn were about to when Professor Hastings walked in.

"Ah, so what's this? A gathering?" he quickly looked around the Base. When his eyes settled on Kellyn and Kate, he said, "Ah, so these are the Ranger School's students, eh? On the 1-day internship at this Ranger Base, eh?"

"Yes," Kate said.

"Come to think of it," Hastings said. "We _did_ have a girl drop by the Ranger Union for a 1-day internship as well. She had the intent of being an Operator, the girl. Her name was… uh… Misery? Or something like that."

_Rhythmi!_ Kate and Kellyn gritted in their heads, thinking of their other classmate.

"Well, I sure hope I'll have the chance to work alongside you in the near future," Hastings said.

Kate and Kellyn said their good-byes and went out of the Base.

* * *

Outside, Kate and Kellyn walked out –

"Watch out!" Kellyn shouted, holding Kate's arms and grinding her to a halt.

"WHAT?!" Kate shouted back.

But her voice was silenced at the thought of what Kellyn just did. Looking down at her feet, she saw two Pachirisu curled up on the ground.

"What's all the commotion about?" the familiar voice of Barlow came from behind, who was accompanied by Crawford. "Oh… I see, a couple of Pokémon from the beach."

"I'm betting whatever I have that they came to see Kellyn and Kate once more. I suppose that they must have been _really_ happy to have been captured," Crawford said, sharing his input. As he said this, the two Pachirisu jumped up and down and leapt into the arms of Kellyn and Kate. Kate smiled and cradled Pachirisu in her arms, while Kellyn's Pachirisu scurried up onto his shoulder.

Barlow spoke in a bittersweet voice, "It's perfectly possible, but I'm afraid that Kate and Kellyn aren't officially certified Rangers, not yet anyway. We at the Ranger Base can't permit you to have Partner Pokémon yet."

Kate was just close to tears. Kellyn on the other hand had to shed one.

"I know how disappointing this may be, but now is not the time. Not yet," Barlow spoke slowly, and even slightly sorry, judging by the look on Kate's face. "Tell you what: you can spend the rest of the day together. Just make sure you release them when you get back to school."

"That's fine," Kellyn quickly replied, before Kate could intervene.

* * *

The journey felt like it lasted only a few minutes, let alone seconds, as Kate and Kellyn found themselves bypassing the School Road and were halfway through the bridge.

"I'm really sorry I have to leave you right now," Kellyn said to his Pachirisu. "I – I don't know… but we might meet again sometime. It would have been nice to stick with you, but…"

Kate didn't want to let her Pachirisu go, and literally was crying enough tears to fill up a river, pond, and (for good measure) an ocean. In the same way, her Pachirisu appeared to be really, really, sad. If only there was some way to compromise…

There was.

Kellyn got down on one knee and opened one of his side pockets. "How about this, Pachirisu? I'll give you this little bag here, so you'll know that wherever you go, you'll remember me, and that capture we had earlier today."

It was a small white pouch with a blue logo of the Ranger Union and a shoulder strap. Kellyn put the pouch around Pachirisu in an affectionate way. Kate, looking at Kellyn's example, pulled an identical pouch with a pink logo instead of a blue one and put it around _her_ Pachirisu.

The two Pachirisu walked away from them, and turning around one last time to look at Kate and Kellyn, they scampered past the bridge and onto the School Road.

"See you soon," Kate said through tears.

* * *

A years later, graduation came (in the manga, all students really did need a year of training to graduate). A time passed when Kellyn's family, and Kate's family, ended up moving into Chicole Village. As next-door neighbours.

Eventually, Kellyn and Kate had their student uniforms exchanged for official Ranger uniforms, and they were put immediately to work with Crawford to go on a foot patrol for all of Vientown delivering the local paper. When they got to Nabiki Beach…

"Kellyn, check it out…" Kate said quietly.

Indeed, there were two Pachirisu quietly sitting near the shore. When they turned around to look at the approaching newcomers, they quickly got up to see them.

It felt like an eternity since they had seen them, because Kellyn and Kate could just barely remember the two white bags worn on the two Pachirisu. When they recognised them, they were quickly overcome with joy.

"Pachirisu!" Kellyn shouted, allowing the electric squirrel to jump into his arms.

"You're here…!" Kate shouted also, hugging her Pokémon friend very warmly.

Mr. Woodward, on the beach once again, went to talk with Crawford, in which Kate and Kellyn overheard (but not eavesdropping…).

"Those two Pachirisu have been waiting on the beach ever since… those two left them on that day," he said to Crawford.

"There's that old saying if you meet on this beach, you become good friends," Crawford approved Mr. Woodward's message. "Well, here's an example!"

Finally, Crawford turned to face Kate and Kellyn with a massive smile. "Well, since you're an official Pokémon Ranger now, not bound by the strict regulations of the Ranger School, you're now free to make your Pachirisu your official Partner Pokémon!"

The two new Rangers looked at their Pachirisu.

"Well, Pachirisu? Want to join me as my first Partner Pokémon?" Kellyn asked.

"Pachirisu, want to journey together at last?" Kate pleaded.

With an approved nod from each Pachirisu, Kellyn and Kate officially took their Pachirisu in as their first official Partner Pokémon.

"It seems that your patience has been rewarded at last, Pachirisu," Mr. Woodward concluded.

And there, Kate and Kellyn would journey on with their to-be most trusted Pokémon. Before the group left Nabiki Beach though, Crawford stopped to deliver a copy of the Vien Tribune (the local paper), not that it's worth mentioning…


	2. Grotle: Vien Forest Ambassador

**Operation Brighton is guaranteed to arrive at Chapter Five!**

**This chapter is part of the Mission "Fight the Vien Forest Fire!"**

* * *

_**Chapter two: Grotle: Ambassador of Vien Forest to Almia**_

"There's smoke everywhere," Mimi, the little local Vientown resident. "Mimi says three of Mimi's Happiny has gone missing. They ran away and wouldn't listen to Mimi. Mimi is scared!"

"Don't worry," Kate reassured her. "We'll see that Happiny is safe."

"There's nothing to worry, we'll make sure your three Happiny are safe," Luana added.

"Really?" Mimi said, excited.

"Trust us! We're Rangers!" Luana encouraged.

"Yay! Mimi will be waiting right here."

The idea was that the two rookie Pokémon Rangers, with their newly captured Pachirisu's, would venture into the historical, and traditional, Vien Forest where supposedly three of Mimi's many Happiny had gone missing. As helping out citizens of Almia was a duty to serve in a Pokémon Ranger's career, Kellyn and Kate ensured that it was so.

But the more important matter lay in the fact that the Vien Forest was reported to be on fire. Accompanying them was Luana, who earlier had woke up late from the smoke given off by the fire, and had no idea what was going (she assumed that someone burned toast or something…). Right after the short welcome, Leader Barlow gave the Mission order to get rid of the fire as quickly as possible. (Fight the Vien Forest Fire!)

* * *

One of the first objectives the three did was locate one of Mimi's Happiny in the southern half of Vien Forest. After capturing the Happiny and returning it to Mimi; Kate, Kellyn, and Luana made their way across the bridge to face the fire, and find the remaining two Happiny.

* * *

Eventually, on their trek through the green labyrinth, the three could detect that Mimi's witness was correct, that there _was_ smoke everywhere. However, that wasn't all. When Kellyn and Kate walked even deeper, they found that the entire northern half of the Vien Forest was already set ablaze!

"Kellyn, STOP!" Kate yelled, literally putting Kellyn to an abrupt halt in his tracks.

Two fractions of a second later, a burning log landed next to Kellyn with a _KERTHUNK_, and threw the Ranger off his feet, and onto the partially charred grass.

"Thanks…" he quietly said, taking Kate's hand to hoist himself back up. "So now how do we get rid of this forest fire?!"

Kate and Kellyn stood still in the middle of the mess, thinking hard, in spite of all the burning sticks falling from the trees above and the intense heat given off by the flames. Finally, after one precious minute of thinking…

"We need to extinguish the fire, as fast as we can," Luana said.

"We're short on manpower for complete annihilation," Kellyn countered, rejecting the idea. "If we were to dowse the fire one section at a time, another fire will have started! Even if we try equipping ourselves with enough water Pokémon, the fire will have virtually destroyed the entire Vien Forest at this rate. No… we need a faster method."

He paced back in forth, with his Pachirisu mimicking the same pace.

"All in all, I agree with you," he said, looking at Luana. "We need to extinguish the fire as fast as we can, but the real question we should be asking is, how?"

CRAAAAAA…

The unmistakable sound of a snapping branch brought the three and the Pachirisu's back to their senses and ran away to find some cover.

* * *

When the three, led by Kate, returned to the southern half of Vien Forest to locate more of Mimi's Happiny once more, Kate was nearly crushed by a flaming log from above. This was followed by a group of startled Budew jumping right on top of her.

As Kate by instinct went ahead to capture the Budew, Luana and Kellyn set about getting rid of the log by directly extinguishing the flames. Afterwards, Kate was still occupied by capturing the group of Budew. Kellyn and Luana reached a fork, went separate ways, and came back rescuing a Happiny each.

"That's three out of three. Now, let's bring them back to Mimi," Kellyn said.

* * *

When the threesome came back to Mimi and Mimi was safely back in Vientown, the Rangers returned their full attention to the forest fire. The three Rangers returned to the northern half of Vien Forest, and when they did they were met by Crawford.

"Hey, is the flame _hot_ enough for you?" Crawford lightly joked.

Kellyn grimly smiled as Kate and Luana gave scowls.

"Ah, I'm sorry, this is no time to be joking," Crawford said as he began his briefing. "Boy, am I glad to see you here. I've been leading Pokémon out of this location to safety, but I can't keep up with all of them. The situation requires the immediate use of Target Clear move Rain Dance, which Blastoise have. Come with me."

Kellyn and Kate made their mental notes as Crawford brought them and Luana deeper into the inferno.

"Unfortunately, and I hate to admit this, but my Styler's malfunctioning for being in the heat for so long, which is pretty much the reason why I need you to relieve me from capturing a Blastoise."

Crawford grimly looked to his right. "There should be a Blastoise in this direction. Go! I'm counting on you."

* * *

When Kellyn, Kate, and Luana arrived at the path Crawford had showed them, they were surprised that the entire area was undamaged from the incoming fire, let alone scorched.

"First of all, we need to use this area as a safe place to base," Kellyn analyzed. "It shouldn't take more than two or three minutes. If anything, I need to catch my breath."

"Which by then the Vien Forest will be half-destroyed," Kate denounced. "You, Kellyn, are willing to sacrifice an entire forest _just to catch your breath_. Shame on you. I'm going to look for some water-types, and you're not going to stop me!"

With that being said, Kate whipped around and left without a word, going on to capture as many water-type Pokémon she would find ranging from Squirtles to Wartortles to Floatzels… whatever she could find that could help with putting out the incoming flames.

_Did she just renounce me…?_ Kellyn thought. _Kate… now is not the time to get the small guns. We need the big guns to get rid of fire this scale…_

Finally giving up on any thoughts of rain and large-scale water-types, Kellyn rejoined Kate's side and helped her out to put out some flames. Luana also provided some assistance by capturing more water-type Pokémon.

"We need establish the safe zone now," Luana suggested. "If anything happens, we can flee to a particular spot where the fire won't reach."

"I agree, but how do we do that?" Kate said, still ordering the water team to constantly fire jets of water into the inferno.

"We stay in this spot and extinguish all the fire around it, should it be trees and grass. The fire can't set a damp surface ablaze that easily, so we can flee there," Kellyn planned, quickly putting the strategy and details into short form.

* * *

The pathway itself was something of a choke point between the river bank and the ever-growing blaze. Without anywhere to go except into the water, the area served as an excellent standpoint to repel incoming blazes.

The three carefully edged backward from the fire while their Pokémon friends sprayed water from place to place, from left to right, so that neither the trees nor the grass could get any further from that point.

That was when Kellyn, as he walked backward, stumbled over and fell on his back.

"Ow!" he cried.

Upon crashing to the ground, Kellyn felt the uncomfortable force exerted by the ground on him. He felt his lungs force out nearly a full breath from his mouth. Kellyn couldn't breathe, and he wondered if he could even breathe again –

"Oh, stop it, Kellyn," Kate said, annoyed. "It's not going to kill you. You only fell half of your body height, and that wasn't even that high. Come on, get up!"

Kellyn jumped up and, alert, looked at what had tripped on.

It was a Pokémon that had the appearance of a large-sized shelled turtle with the apparent look of two grassy bushes on its shell, somewhat symmetrically left as to the right. The Pokémon didn't look that familiar, but Kellyn must have heard of this Pokémon elsewhere…

And then the Pokémon lunged at Kellyn.

"Watch it, Kellyn!" Luana warned.

"Capture… on!" Kellyn dodged the Pokémon and fired his Capture Disc toward the target.

He kept spinning his Styler at the Pokémon, but at one point the turtle had tackled and broke through the Capture Line.

"Argh!" Kellyn shuddered, feeling a bit of his brand-new Ranger Styler suffer just the slightest amount of damage. The Styler itself shook violently in his hand.

The capture was taking some time, and as Kate started to panic that the fire was making its way to the border, where the lone river was what separated the northern half of Vien Forest from the southern half. If the fire were to spread any further south, it would burn the bridge linking the two sides. If any further north, the fire would spread to the port city of Pueltown (and ultimately, chaos).

"Kellyn, there's no time!" Kate urgently shouted. "We need to clear out the fire, NOW!"

"I'm not running from _this_ Pokémon in particular!" Kellyn said in opposition.

"Hurry up, then!" Luana barked.

"But the fire –" Kate started.

But as she said this, Kellyn had just completed his capture with a 'B' rank, in which the Pokémon he just captured was identified as a Grotle.

* * *

Later on, Kellyn discovered that the Grotle he had just captured was partially injured on its front legs. While Kate and Kellyn certainly could tell that it was a burn (and could also tell Grotle's small discomfort with fire), they could also see that the Grotle had been taken measures to get rid of the burn by dipping his two legs in the water.

"You're really smart, Grotle," Kellyn complimented.

Grotle replied with a few sounds, and Kellyn and Kate were soon astonished.

"No really?" Kate gasped. "You actually tried to help out the other Pokémon?"

Grotle replied with a few sounds of approval, and the Rangers interpreted that Grotle tried to get help, but was held back by the burns. At the same time, Kellyn went forward to bandage the burned wounds on Grotle's legs. The burning may be part of Grotle's everyday life when facing off against fire-types, but Kellyn figured it best to cure the burn as early as possible.

"I might have to release you later on, Grotle," Kellyn said. "But you're welcome to join me for the time being!"

Grotle stood up, feeling much better and gestured for Kate and Kellyn to follow him past the rapidly-burning forest. Kate, knowing that Grotle _probably_ knew what he was doing, followed him. Kellyn was _really_ surprised at how brave that this Grotle could be, given that he went on rushing through burning trees and falling branches (and logs!). Kate was getting worried at first, but quickly relaxed when she found that Grotle was leading them in the direction of the river border once more (where the fire hadn't reached yet, of course). There, Kate and Kellyn finally found what they were looking for, courtesy of Grotle.

"Now, _this_… is what I would call: one of the big guns," Kellyn stated, looking at the Pokémon walking a few metres away from him. "If we ever needed enough firepower to fight off the flames, this is it."

"Well… _yeah!_" Luana furiously waved her hands. "This is the Pokémon we want!"

Walking around the river bank was a Blastoise, known for its firepower in the water field. Kellyn figured that with enough water from Blastoise, they just might be able to get rid of the blasted inferno at long last.

"You can do the honour, Kate," Kellyn gestured.

"Why, Kellyn, that's so noble of you!" Kate replied, with thanks. "With pleasure."

Stepping up, Kate lifted her Capture Styler, shouting, "Capture… on!"

* * *

The last time that Kate had ever captured a large-size Pokémon was during a surprise raid during her graduation ceremony from the Ranger School, when a pair of Tangrowth had maliciously emerged from the basement, frightening at least half the class. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Kate and Keith the situation was under control.

This situation was different.

Unlike the Tangrowth from before, the Blastoise was surprisingly agile for its size, as it consistently tackled from distance to distance. More than once did Kate have to jump aside to avoid the tackling charges from Blastoise, and because of that she was often unsuccessful in managing more than five uninterrupted loops at a time.

"Come on, Styler, work!" Kate urged her device.

Grotle quickly chose the time to act and jump into action ("Grotle!" Kellyn cried) and charged into Blastoise as the latter made an aggressive charge in Kate's direction once more. Grotle, thinking of the least violent manner, merely performed a simple trip, and plunged Blastoise into the ground. Grotle, in turn, buried himself into the ground for cover.

"Thank you, Grotle!" Kate shouted, and furiously swung her arm in circles (or rather, the Styler) to attain maximum effort to capture the Blastoise.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Blastoise slowly got up, still energetic, and prepared to resume its deadly charge.

"Pachirisu! Help me out!" Kate ordered. Her Partner happily obliged and fired an electrical bolt into Kate's Styler, which gave it an empowered boost. Logically thinking, water would have little resistance to the shocking power of electricity. Blastoise, noticing that the Capture Line began to glow a little brighter, had no idea what was going on.

And so Blastoise tried to move.

But couldn't.

It was because a bolt of electricity landed on a spot right next to it, and for that reason Blastoise was stunned, good and proper.

"Capture complete," Kate breathed a sigh of relief, retreating the Capture Disc back into her Styler and welcoming the Blastoise to follow her.

* * *

"If we keep this going any further, the fire will burn the bridge in fifteen minutes," Kellyn said. "We have to start dowsing the flames now, now that we have a big gun. Grotle probably knows the forest better than all of us."

"Good idea," Kate agreed, and following Grotle into the forest, they once again found themselves in the middle of the blasted inferno, which somehow had the feeling the heat had escalated. With that amount of heat, it would be very possible to dry up the water on the trees, the only exception being the 'safe zone' Kate and Kellyn had established earlier.

They neared some of the trees and ordered their newly captured water-type Pokémon to instantly focus on drenching the forest fire. Using the river border as a stockpile to fight off the fire, they slowly pushed their way into the heart of the forest.

"The fire just won't give up," Kellyn tried to say, exhausted. "If only we had rain!"

Blastoise, Wartortle, and Floatzel did their best to wash out the flames, in which they did, but there were just too many trees in the way. Where there was one spot that the water got rid of the fire, another fire would start elsewhere.

With all the surrounding heat, Kellyn could feel that it was really starting to get into his head. That and the fading hope that, as he had correctly predicted, there wasn't enough manpower to get rid of all the fire…

He fell to the ground, tired.

A flaming branch broke from above and prepared to make its landing on Kellyn's back. How could he move? He didn't have any stamina left in him.

"Kellyn!" Kate and Luana screamed his name. "Get up!"

He opened his eyes, alert, but it was a tad too late.

And then Grotle pushed Kellyn aside, taking the hit from the flaming branch. Unscathed, or at least very much like it, Grotle shook off the flaming branch and nodded for Kellyn to keep moving.

"Had that been a log, Kellyn, I can't see how you'd ever forgive yourself," Kate said disapprovingly. "Anyway, I need you to help me find a place to make a better stand."

* * *

Later, the threesome reported to Crawford, who informed them that the Blastoise had to be used in a particular spot to achieve maximum effect. Using it just anywhere wouldn't put out the fire completely.

Grotle seemed to have had other ideas and motioned for Blastoise to follow him. Kate and Kellyn, presupposing once again that Grotle probably knew the forest better then all of them, followed him.

As for the Pachirisu's, they were absolutely _not_ frightened by the sight of the Vien Forest and faithfully stayed with their respective Rangers. Sure, more flaming branches falling from above were a hazardous sight to behold, but at least they (the group) had gotten used to hearing the sounds, and could predict where approximately the branches were going to land. Grotle alone seemed to have grown some minimal immunity to branches landing on top of him.

Soon enough, Grotle led the group into a clearing free of any trees from around and above. Looking above, Kellyn and Kate saw smoke bellowing upward, but at the very least there was a clear gap of blue sky.

"Are you sure Grotle knows what he's doing?!" Kate asked, anxious. "I can see Blastoise is following him and all, but –"

Kellyn asked back, with an eyebrow raised, "Remember what Blastoise can do in the field? Rain Dance!"

In spite of the urgency surrounded by a wall of fire, Kate quickly flipped through her Styler and searched for the Pokémon. Nevertheless, the Styler was arranged in numerical order in accordance with the number registered to a Pokémon's number (given and arranged by the Ranger Union). After a short while, mainly because their Browsers contained so little data, Kate found the data with Blastoise in it.

"Let's see… oh right! Blastoise could do a Rain Dance technique!" Kate read.

Kellyn's face lit up, his voice excited. "Where should we use it?"

Grotle impatiently waited for Kate, Kellyn, and the Pachirisu to come to their senses. Kellyn, looking at Grotle, finally caught on.

"Oh… I see," Kellyn said. "There's a reason Grotle and Blastoise wanted to come here. We had to protect these Pokémon from the fire, and they depended on us. There's clear sky above us now, so…"

"We can use Rain Dance right in this very spot of course!" Kate shouted, finally glad that she caught on. "Okay, okay, okay. Enough chat. Blastoise! Rain Dance!"

Blastoise looked towards the sky and proudly roared.

Kellyn, Kate, Luana, the Pachirisu's, and Grotle patiently waited for some rain to appear.

Droplets began to fall at first, evaporated by the fire.

More droplets began to fall, increasing in speed, and were further reinforced by a shower of rain, which became a maelstrom of water.

_Ah, at last…_ Kate thought.

Rain, rain, rain… the fire appeared to be less and less as the rain took over. Most pleased of all was Grotle, who was happy his home forest was safe and sound from fire now…

The rain eventually stopped, and the forest appeared to be green once more, despite the burned marks on the trees and charred grass. Blastoise soon was released by Kate and went back to its respective home.

"If I'd known that it was going to rain, I should've brought an umbrella!" Crawford joked from the distance, as he neared Kate, Kellyn, and Luana. After looking around at the now-soaked Vien Forest, he said, "I'm just joking, of course! We have been soaked in _glory_! Soaked and dripping wet, this is an official Mission Clear!"

Posing was one part that made a Pokémon Ranger unique, as the four gathered Rangers did their trademark 'Clear!' poses!

* * *

Later, Grotle would end up choosing to stay with Kellyn on his journey. While this didn't mean that Grotle could stay with Kellyn forever as a Partner Pokémon, he would still be treated as a Friend Pokémon, at the very least.

"I might need you later on," Kellyn said, and Grotle only nodded.

Grotle even accompanied Kellyn and Pachirisu on their way back to the Ranger Base. After the interrogation of a suspicious man found in forest (near a Gigaremo machine), dubbed by Luana as 'Ollie', Kellyn and Kate went on a patrol.

Grotle decided to lend a physical hand when it came to local Quests as well!

But a time would come when Grotle would have to be released eventually…


	3. Kirlia: The Abyss' Gentle Heart

**Special thanks to Reddest Crimson, and probably Eeveeleah, for taking notice of this story!**

**This chapter is centered around the Mission "Support Sven at the Ruins!", and features Kellyn's other dear friend Kirlia.**

* * *

_**Chapter three: Kirlia: The Depths'**__** Gentle Heart**_

Briefly after Keith, Kellyn, and Kate had received their much stronger Fine Stylers, they were assigned to provide backup for Top Ranger Sven at the Chroma Ruins.

The journey was ludicrous.

It first began with the long trek through the Chroma Highlands, in which Kellyn and Kate searched forcefully for a few Skarmory to blast away dark mist that was hammering at their Stylers. Later, when that was over with, Kellyn was credited the task to capture a Bastiodon. With only a little experience using the Fine Styler, Kellyn nearly risked losing his Capture Disc had Kate and Keith not reminded him that he could recall it. The capture was completed within the next minute.

The trio went to the high ground where a descent into the ancient (well, not really ancient, but at the very least _old_) Chroma Ruins.

The worst was yet to come when the trio, led by Kate, went deeper into the blackened hard-to-maneuver ruins. In short, the ruins could generally be summed up as an irritable maze and puzzle. Keith and Kellyn quickly collaborated to detect any incoming obstacles, such as Kellyn's capture of an elusive Electabuzz to light up a pitch-black cave while Keith at the same time captured a couple of Sandshrew to smash the rocks blocking their path.

Kate, meanwhile, searched for a Sandslash in which could be used to dig through a hole in the ground.

The journey into the ruins involved dodging a group of Koffing emitting their poisonous gases. Fortunately, the Rangers were safeguarded by their Stylers, but the gases still made the air much more difficult to breathe.

Adding on to the lunacy was the fact that Kate had to capture a Skuntank on her own. Like Kellyn, Kate had little experience using the Fine Styler and could have smashed her Capture Disc to bits. She was even more disheartened that _she_ had to be the one to have the smelly Skuntank follow her around. Kellyn, Keith, Grotle, and Pachirisu of course kept their distance.

In the midst of all this, Kellyn's Grotle still hadn't parted from him. Even when Kellyn asked if Grotle wanted to head back to Vien Forest because of all the hazards surrounding them, Grotle still refused to leave.

"Kellyn, man, now that's loyalty," Keith remarked.

Kellyn grinned. "I don't understand why he won't leave, but anyway I'm bound to release him at some point. You know, regulations."

But as they continued down the newly-cleared path (the one with more destructible rocks cleared by a Pupitar), right before they were about to drop into one of the two nearby holes in the ground, they came across a teleporting Pokémon on the left side of this cavern!

"Who goes there?!" Kate shouted, alert.

"I'm detecting a Pokémon!" Keith reported, checking his Styler.

"Capture… on!" Kellyn shouted.

* * *

This brought Kate's attention (and Keith's) directly to Kellyn, as he swiftly used his first two right-hand fingers to quickly maneuver the Capture Disc to surround the Pokémon who happened to be hiding around a nearing corner, and the Pokémon was captured with next-to-no effort, as the Fine Styler classed it as an 'S' rank.

"Alright, you can come out now," Kellyn called to the corner, in which he couldn't see around.

Slowly, solid green hair crept past the corner, with the head of a Kirlia peeking at who was standing before her. The Kirlia then teleported in front of Kellyn. She was only roughly half the height of Kellyn, so Kellyn had to kneel down on one knee to talk to her.

"I'm… Kellyn, it's nice to meet you, Kirlia," he introduced. "This is my friend Pachirisu, and this is Grotle… and those are my co-workers Kate and Keith. You know, you really startled me there!"

As Kellyn finished, Kirlia spun around once and hugged Kellyn very tightly. Since Kate and Kellyn had enough experience as Rangers, they had no problem depicting what Kirlia was getting at.

"She's frightened," Kate said.

"I don't blame her," Kellyn agreed. "Being down in these caves for so long without any hope of seeing the light of day… I would have felt the same as well. Speaking of which, Kirlia, would you like to come with me for the time being? I might need you to teleport all of us out of here if we need to evacuate while we're here."

Kirlia nodded, and like a scared child took Kellyn's hand as they went further into the cave.

* * *

Further into the maze with a Skuntank following Kate, there was a massive boulder in the way. Grotle had earlier attempted to push the boulder aside, but he simply couldn't push a boulder of that kind of size. Bastiodon soon relieved Grotle and pushed the boulder far away, and afterwards was released back into the wild. The trio of Rangers rushed into the next room, but –

"_Shh! Quiet!_" said a voice in the other room.

Kellyn, Kate, and Keith stayed silent.

A Ranger sporting a cowboy hat and a Fine Styler motioned them to quietly come closer to the wall he had his back to, and then he motioned at what was behind the corner of that wall.

"_I'll explain later_," he whispered. "_In the meantime, 'glad to see you made it here safe. I'm Sven, should you guys know, and this is my most trusted Partner: Luxray. Long story short, I'm glad my backup has arrived at last, because I need your assistance._"

He risked a peek behind the corner beside him. "_I'd like to hear what those Dim Sun goons are up to by eavesdropping, but unfortunately there're _way_ too many of 'em for my liking._"

Curious, Kellyn went first to take a quick glance, and then he retreated as quickly as he could once he saw them. Keith followed, and then Grotle and Kirlia, and finally Kate, in which they all understood why they had to fall back so quickly.

There were at least a dozen members from Team Dim Sun in the area directly in front of them. As much as Keith would have liked to rush in, Kate and Kellyn rebuked him saying that they were outnumbered by a four-to-one margin, minus the Pokémon.

The eavesdropping soon confirmed the Rangers' suspicions that the Gigaremo machines were indeed powered by Dark Shards (as in the same Dark Stones found in earlier-investigated Gigaremos) in the cave. However, as the four Rangers continued to listen, the Dim Sun goons couldn't find any more at this point, and suggested to dig up whatever remaining useless shards left and sell them for a rip-off profit.

"So what do we do now?" Sven asked. "We have to give those guys a run out of the Ruins, but how do we do that?"

Kellyn and Kate looked at each other, and then to Keith who shrugged (knowing that he would be shut down by a reminder they were outnumbered four-to-one).

"Hey… is that a Skuntank I see with you?" Sven asked, his eyes suddenly filled with optimism.

"Uh, _yeah_," Kate said as if it were obvious. "What, do you want to point out its fatal stench? It's been a 'real' honour to be the one hauling it around. What's the point?"

Grotle and the Pachirisu's each gave themselves a mental slap, as Kellyn and Keith literally slapped their foreheads. Even Kirlia, as a newcomer to the team, could fully understand what Kate needed to do.

"Really, Kate?" Kellyn raised his eyebrows. "You can't figure it out, eh? What about you, Keith? Did you figure it out?"

"Way ahead of you, Kellyn," Keith answered, and he walked toward the Skuntank. "Shall I do it?"

Kirlia went in front of Kate and furiously tried to communicate the obvious message Kate was missing out on. Kate was slow, and Kirlia shook her head.

"Oh, wait, I figured it out!" Kate finally realised what to do, but it was too late.

"Yep, you can do it, Keith," Kellyn approved.

Soon enough, Keith ended up following Kate. They marched closer to the choke point leading to the clearing with the dozen Dim Sun goons. Sven quietly pinched his nose while Kellyn and Keith did the same. If no one else, the Pachirisu's and Grotle had to hide away to take cover. Kirlia, also, teleported a safer distance away where the imminent disaster was about take place.

By the time the Dim Sun members had caught wind that there were a duo of Rangers in their midst, they were a tad too late.

"_Okay, Skuntank_," Kate whispered. "_Fire away!_"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

An enormous stench, rapidly diffused throughout the entire cavern, blasted a wave of into everyone's face.

An uproar from the Dim Sun members ensued, and it only worsened when widespread panic followed.

"AHHHH! THAT STINKS!"

"IT'S HORRID! GYAAAAH!"

"I AGREE! AHHHH!"

"AIYAH! MY EYES ARE ON FAIYAH!"

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

And sooner than soon, the twelve Dim Sun members ran out of the cave just narrowly missing Kellyn and Grotle as they passed by them. Kate couldn't be any happier when she finally released the Skuntank from her presence at last.

Keith ended up complaining for the remainder of the trip.

* * *

Progress continued as the Rangers, this time led by Kellyn, dropped into the nearby hole and flawlessly captured a few Drifblim to evacuate the place should the need arise.

On the way, however, they were met by a very unwelcome Pokémon…

Kirlia gasped and hid behind Kellyn's leg (knowing what was coming ahead). Neither Kellyn nor the rest of the Rangers could understand what Kirlia was so frightened about, but the answer lay when they looked at the other Pokémon right in front of them. There were five Odd Keystones laid out, and in the center one was a particular Pokémon.

"Isn't that a Spiritomb?" Keith asked, racking his brain for background knowledge. "Isn't it guarding something valuable?"

"Well, it has to be valuable," Kellyn replied on his own account. "Otherwise, why would it be here in the first place, anyway?"

"It seems like it's guarding something," Kate said.

"But I doubt it'll let us pass without a challenge," Sven added. "It's going to be tricky, but together we might be able to manage it after all. So… you three ready?"

Nervous nods were the answer.

"GO! GO! GO!" Sven ordered.

With a rallying rush, the capture started as the four Rangers all fired their Capture Discs at once against the Spiritomb. Knowing it wouldn't be that easy, let alone hazardous, they all had their Partner Pokémon at the ready.

"CAPTURE ON!" they shouted unanimously.

* * *

Ideally, the five Odd Keystones were arranged in an 'X' shape. Sven, the most experienced of the four, took the duty of handling one corner and the center, whereas Kellyn, Kate, and Keith each took a corner for themselves to watch.

With the amount of manpower the Rangers had, the capture should have been relatively easy. That is, except when Spiritomb emitted Dark Pulses frequently and damaged the Capture Line. Although strengthening components were purposely built into the Fine Styler to survive harsh conditions and absorbing shock from Styler damage, it still wasn't smart to take any damage at all.

Also, Kellyn, Kate, and Keith were the only backup Sven could have.

"Watch out!" Sven warned.

The Spirtomb fired away some sort of wave. Was it a Psywave? No… Spiritomb was a ghost-type, so that cancelled the possibility.

"It's an Ominous Wind, from the looks of it," Kate said. "Be careful!"

That wasn't the end of surprises. As Kellyn did his part to capture Spiritomb, the latter fired an electire-like orb into the ground, forcing Kellyn to carefully watch where he was pointing his fingers.

"Keep it going!" Kellyn rallied.

He considered getting Kirlia to help him, but realised that Kirlia had little effectiveness against a powerhouse like Spiritomb. Besides, Kellyn didn't bother when Kirlia _pleaded_ Kellyn not to use her (just by using her emotions alone). Kellyn was spoken for.

The capture of Spiritomb was seeing great progress, but it only got harder when it fired a Will-O-Wisp that kept hopping all over the place. Whether it was around the Odd Keystones or directly at the Rangers, it was still a hazard nonetheless.

"OW!" Kate screamed, just barely getting scorched by the orb of fire.

"Stay strong, Kate! We can't help you!" Sven cautioned. "And if we did, we'd all be in danger!"

"Grotle! Kirlia! Go help her!" Kellyn shouted to his Friend Pokémon. "That's an order! Go!"

Spiritomb reappeared in the Odd Keystone where Keith was keeping watch. As Keith desperately performed his capture, the Spiritomb fired Shadow Balls in haywire-style, and it was a scattershot throughout the entire room!

"Take cover!" Sven dived to the ground, but still retaining his Capture Disc in mid-air, Keith and Kellyn did the same.

Kate…

She saw the unpromising orbs of darkened energy sail toward her. Already slightly burnt, she couldn't manage to fall down…

But somehow, she did. She fell on her back.

And when she did, just one-and-a-half seconds later, the Shadow Balls flew above and past her head. Kate knew that she got pushed by someone, but whom? And what did she trip on? Kate glanced down at her feet.

She tripped over Kellyn's Grotle, and it apparently appeared that her own Pachirisu (Kate's) and Kellyn's Kirlia had forced her down.

"Uh… thanks, guys," Kate said, her voice embarrassed.

Kirlia extended her arm in Kate's direction, offering to help her up. Kate graciously took up on the offer and Kirlia pulled the latter upward. As Kirlia did, Kate realised that her Capture Disc was never recalled, and went to look for it. Kirlia, being a Psychic Pokémon, interpreted Kate's thoughts and pointed at where it was.

Meanwhile, Sven, Kellyn, and Keith were becoming heavily reliant on the assistance of their Partner Pokémon, Luxray, Pachirisu, and Buizel respectively. With Kate on a short-term recovery, Kellyn and Keith shared a double-duty to watch over Kate's keystone as they were the two closest to it. Whenever the Spiritomb reappeared in that keystone, Kellyn and Keith would focus full attention on that one and circle the Capture Line around it in record speed.

Sadly, even record speed could not keep up with Spiritomb's version of record speed.

Spiritomb rapidly appeared from keystone to keystone. From obvious sight, Sven could tell that the former was switching to being tactical now. For every keystone Spiritomb appeared in, it would fire several rounds of Dark Pulses before it switch to another keystone, and then reappearing in another keystone… ad infinitum.

Kirlia alone wanted to contribute, but she found the Spiritomb's presence was very disturbing to her. It was one of two reasons why she wanted to leave the ruins but couldn't. She was still frightened, and frightened to the point where she was frozen still.

"Relax your mind, Kirlia," Kellyn said, breaking Kirlia's thoughts. "I'm going to be standing right beside you, there's nothing to worry about!"

Kirlia took a deep breath and watched the capture unfold again.

"Pachirisu! Go help Kate!" Kellyn ordered, throwing his Partner Pokémon over to her.

Kate took advantage of the two Pachirisu's and went straight for her next move.

"Poké Assist Electric!" Kate barked. "Let's do this!"

With Sven, Kellyn, and Keith still on guard, they readied themselves for a straight-on capture of Spiritomb once the shock had taken effect. The Pachirisu's fired two electric bolts at Kate's Fine Styler and charged it up. The four Rangers prepared to take full advantage of double electric shocking power that Kate was about to provide. That is, if Kate was successful in the hit at all.

The assist succeeded.

And with that, Sven, Kellyn, and Keith brought their Capture Discs to complete the capture at last, with the letters 'OK!' popping up on their monitors.

"Capture complete!" the Rangers cheered.

Kirlia, from behind, watched in wonder at the kind of career the Rangers had to face, as she somehow felt now that the Spiritomb had become considerably less harmful. She marvelled at the sight that the once-aggressive Spiritomb had been calmed down and was quietly released by the Rangers, never to appear again.

* * *

"Okay, so all we need to do is to see what's at the end of these caves," Kate said.

But as they walked deeper in, Kirlia pulled on Kellyn's hand.

"What is it, Kirlia?" Kellyn asked, but Kirlia just hugged Kellyn's side and buried her head in his hip. Apparently, Kirlia couldn't stand to see the presence of all the Dark Shards in the cavern.

Lest Kirlia couldn't keep moving anymore, Kellyn lifted Kirlia into his arms and carried her past the ominous hoards of Dark Shards and small crystals buried in the ground and the walls. Kate understood Kirlia's feelings as she kept her eyes on the Pokémon.

"It's not only the Spiritomb she was afraid of," Kate said. "She's afraid of the dark aura given off by these shards and crystals. Poor Kirlia! She has to be trapped in here her whole life, and maybe that Spiritomb just won't let her get out!"

"Whereas there are Pokémon who didn't mind," Kellyn added. "I suppose Kirlia might be one of _very_ few who really wanted to get out of here."

And when the four Rangers got to the end of the path, they soon discovered that the cavern ahead had a stone staircase leading to a supposed, and suspected, massive Dark Shard. But by the time they got there, Sven deduced that someone had already hauled the gargantuan away.

"We're too late!" he exclaimed. "I've been on the track for this thing for a long time. It seems that someone's already come and towed the thing away. See the size of the thing?"

The two Pachirisu's climbed to the top of the staircase, and the four Rangers (and their respective partners and Friend Pokémon) looked at the impressive hole in the wall.

"It's way too big for any regular Dark Shard," Sven said.

"So you reckon it might be a Crystal?" Kellyn said, and Kirlia hugged Kellyn's neck even tighter. "Er… if Kirlia is _that_ scared, don't you think –"

"Yeah, I definitely think it's a Crystal," Sven approved. "I think it might have been what the goons have taken. Worse, it must be the colour of pure darkness, with no hint of light whatsoever."

Keith's eyes were very round. "So even the Spiritomb guarding the entrance couldn't protect it? Some guard."

Sven shook his head. "I think a Darkrai would be the more probable guardian, since it's known to have a preference for the darkness. But I don't understand, _why_ couldn't Darkrai protect the Shadow Crystal? It's a tough Pokémon to defeat, so… _why_?"

Silence. Only to be broken by Keith the loudmouth.

"What would they want to do with a Shadow Crystal?" he asked.

Everyone, even all the Pokémon _and_ Grotle and Kirlia, forced a "_Really?_" kind of look directly at Keith. Sven sighed and did the explaining, since Keith was too oblivious to think of why. Sometimes, Kellyn and Kate wondered how Keith ever became a Top Ranger.

"Do you have any idea what the size of this hole here means?" Sven asked rhetorically. "Imagine breaking up a crystal this size, you know how many Miniremo and Gigaremo units they could make?"

Kellyn, Kate, and Keith bowed their heads down. Kirlia shuddered, and Grotle looked down.

"Just imagining it makes me ill," Sven added. "Team Dim Sun's boss must be laughing, and laughing real hard. I'd say he'd be happy to get a hold of that monstrosity of a Shadow Crystal."

"Kincaid?!" Keith said, hopefully. Kellyn and Kate shot Keith ill looks.

"Could be, could be not," Sven said. "For the time being, there must be a way out from this place. If they could get the Shadow Crystal from the back, then they'd have to haul it out somewhere."

Kellyn still had Kirlia in his arms, and the Pokémon he held was frightened solid.

"Well, Kirlia," he said soothingly. "It looks like you might not need to teleport us out of here after all. We're going to get out!"

Indeed, Kirlia's face brightened.

* * *

The team jumped off a ledge, and in the distance they could see a beam of light on the ground, where there was a ladder beside it. Therefore, it only made sense that the light came from the surface above.

Kirlia allowed Kellyn to let her go on the ground, and she twirled to where the light was. She stared at it as if she had never seen anything like it, and then looked upward to see where the light was originating from.

"That's actually kind of sweet," Kate whispered to Keith.

"Come on, Kirlia," Kellyn said, as he put an arm on Kirlia's shoulder. "Have you ever been outside of these ruins? I trust it'll be worth your while."

To get out, all the Rangers had to do was climb the metal ladder. The Pachirisu's could travel on the Rangers' shoulders, while Buizel and Kirlia could climb as well. For Luxray and Grotle, they needed an airlift with the earlier-captured Drifblim.

Kirlia climbed slowly, as she never had to exert this much force before. Looking up, she could see… light, and it was getting brighter and brighter the closer she reached the top…

* * *

"Thanks, Keith," Kellyn quietly appreciated, as he took the former's hand to help him up onto the surface. Kellyn then kneeled across from Keith to help any other arms from below. First it was Kate, then Sven, then Buizel, and finally Kirlia –

When Kirlia reached the top, the light was too bright for her (no surprise, since she had lived most of her time isolated in those ruins and was never used to seeing light at a massive scale with respect to the darkness) and she shut her eyes tightly. In doing so, one of her arms lost its hold on the ladder a slipped. Kirlia fell backward to the cave below…

"Kirlia!" Kellyn shouted, horrified.

In an instant, Keith and Kellyn reached their arms downward to just narrowly grab Kirlia's hands, but there was only so much grip they could have.

"Don't let go, Kirlia!" Kellyn pleaded.

But fortunately, there was a reason why the Drifblim were captured in the first place. The Drifblim that had been airlifting Luxray and Grotle were still on their way up. Kirlia just so happened to gently land on the Drifblim carrying Luxray as it was progressing through the manhole.

"There we go," Keith said, bringing and laying Kirlia on the ground.

Kellyn, though, collapsed on the ground in shock.

Keith, Kate, and Sven all looked at Kellyn with worried expressions.

_I guess he must really care for Kirlia that much_, Keith thought.

Kirlia, knowing exactly what was going on in Kellyn's mind, sat beside Kellyn (alongside Grotle and Pachirisu) and tried to help Kellyn up. At first, there was some refusal since he was still in some state of shock, but slowly the Pokémon Ranger relaxed.

"Pachirisu, Grotle, Kirlia," Kellyn said one by one. "We – we made it."

Grotle placed himself behind Kellyn's head while Kirlia stood in front to try to get Kellyn up, but unfortunately Kirlia couldn't manage the strength to pull Kellyn up completely, so Kate had to help her. Keith and Sven, meanwhile, went to investigate the adjacent building.

"It's ancient, this shack… eh?!" Sven ran to the sign posted in front of the cabin. "Something's written here… Al-ru O-l… this must be place where Altru Inc. started!"

Sven walked quickly into the shack, followed closely by Keith. Soon, Kate and Kellyn entered with the Pachirisu's and Grotle following them in. Kirlia was the last among them to leave, as she looked at the world around her in wonder. She had never seen such beauty, and so much light at once! Normally, the only light she would have seen would go only as far as the light-coloured shards in the ruins, and that was pretty much it.

Kirlia afterwards walked into the shack.

* * *

Inside the building, the Rangers were each individually conducting search investigations of the building. While Sven was examining old documents on a desk, and Keith looking at some papers on the table, Kellyn and Kate came across an old diary.

The diary would soon prove to be of impossibly good use later, as it revealed some key clues of what Altru Inc. would be further up to. Sven insisted that it be brought back to the Ranger Union for further analysis, and at the same time Keith, Kellyn, and Kate ran into their old classmate Ponte!

Although Ponte appeared to be wearing an outfit belonging to Team Dim Sun, he quickly renounced the Team upon seeing the Shadow Crystal… and as much as it hurt for the Rangers to hear (or at least Kellyn and Kirlia), Ponte would continue to live in this shack.

* * *

When the time had come to leave, Sven gave his concluding remarks.

"I'm going to chase a few leads," he said. "You three better go back to the Union. Kellyn? You better take more care for that Kirlia of yours, even though you might have to release her later."

"Of course," Kellyn replied, but held back a bit of bitterness.

"Glad to hear it," Sven smiled, and then it slightly faltered. "Whoa… almost forgot. I had this to say… that's a Mission Clear!"

The quartet of Rangers did a stylish pose with their Fine Stylers, much to Grotle and Kirlia's appeal and amusement.

* * *

After instructing Keith, Kellyn, and Kate to deliver the diary to Professor Hastings, Sven quickly marched down the Chroma Highlands. Keith was already on his way to the Union right after Sven had given the instruction to do so (as if Keith was following Sven). This left Kellyn and Kate with some downtime, though there wasn't a lot of it.

"Let's go capture the Staraptor at the ruin entrance," Kellyn suggested, and Kate nodded.

When the captures of the bird Pokémon were over with, Kellyn allowed one Staraptor to carry Grotle alone, while Kirlia would sit with Kellyn. Kate of course would have an individual Staraptor for her private use.

"Ready? Let's go!" Kellyn said, as he, Pachirisu, and Kirlia took to the air.

High above the clouds, Kirlia had no idea what sunlight _looked_ like, and she was even more pleased to see it right above her head. Below her was the Almia region in all its splendor and beauty, ranging from forests to oceans to glaciers to deserts. Truly this was the first time Kirlia had seen anything of the sort.

"You see, Kirlia?" Kellyn guided. "This is what the world looks like!"

Looking down, Kirlia had never been so excited to see so much. She was free from seeing the pitch-black walls and unwelcome rocky surroundings of the Chroma Ruins. Now, all she could see was a free and beautiful region with many things she would never have dreamt of seeing.

In her heart, she was wholeheartedly glad that Kellyn had brought her out of a place she didn't belong. With Kellyn's help, she overcame her greatest fears of living in the ruins, and was happily rewarded with the only chance to travel with Kellyn in a world new to her in every possible way.

From plain perspective, the Staraptors were heading west to where the ice capped region was, or at least it certainly looked like it. They were flying in the direction of the massive building that was home to the Ranger Union.

* * *

The Staraptors landed in front of the Union and each rider disembarked, with the Rangers releasing the Staraptor to where they had been previously captured.

Kirlia had never seen a forest, let alone trees, _this_ close. In fact, she could hear the sounds of rustling leaves and running rivers. Is this what the world looked like up close? It was nothing like the Chroma Ruins, where such radiant colours never existed.

The pavement she was standing on… the grass in the distance… the world of Almia, just right outside her doorstep, and Kirlia had never seen it. The duo, Grotle and the Pachirisu's were going to walk into the Union, but they were held back, wondering what Kirlia was doing.

"You go on ahead," Kellyn told Kate, and she complied.

Standing near the door, Kellyn, Grotle, and Pachirisu could only watch the heartwarming sight of Kirlia still trying to get used to the colourful world around her. As it appeared, she was a dancer, and she happily danced and spun right on the spot (Kirlia hadn't seen this much free space to dance on her own). When that was over with, she took Kellyn's hand with her own and followed him into the Ranger Union.

In spite of the Spiritomb and the Shadow Crystal absent, Kirlia hoped that she would never have to go back to the ruins, not when there was an unknown world she had yet to explore.

* * *

**And that, my readers, is how Kellyn met Kirlia.**

**Next chapter: the hostage crisis in the Haruba Desert, if you remember the Mission...**


	4. Keith: Hostage Crisis

**Thanks to Eeveeleah, and probably Reddest Crimson, for taking notice of this story!**

**This chapter surrounds the events, and focuses on, "Get the Yellow Gem!"**

**But believe it or not the events of "Get the Blue Gem!", "Get the Red Gem!", and "Reveal the Hideout's Secrets!" are also written in this chapter.**

**Conveniently, they happen in that order after Kellyn brought Kirlia out of the Chroma Ruins.**

**Pretty much all I own here are the speech made by Kate and Kellyn.**

* * *

_**Chapter four: Hostage Crisis**_

No one ever said journeying with a Pokémon Ranger was going to be easy.

In the case of Grotle and Kirlia, journeying to the ice-cold Almia Castle in Hia Valley (a sharp blow to Grotle, but he soon adapted after about six hours in the cold) to Volcano Cave in Boyleland (another blow to Grotle in the fiery heat) to the Haruba Desert (Kirlia was sweating non-stop whereas Grotle was naturally cooled) was NOT included in the travel description!

Of course, the adventure was worthwhile, as Grotle and Kirlia got to accompany Kellyn and Kate on incredible sights and Missions! The only thing that wasn't worthwhile was how treacherous the journey was supposed to be!

* * *

_Earlier…_

_A general presentation at the Ranger Union revealed nothing more than what the diary had showed. The deciphering by Vatona and his brother Nage explained that the diary had belonged to the second president of Altru Inc. Additionally, the diary showed that there was a connection between Altru Inc. and the Shadow Crystal after all._

_Kellyn and Kate were present during this presentation, and Kellyn decided to let Grotle and Kirlia join as well. It really didn't take long for Grotle and Kirlia to catch what was going on, and privately pledged to help Kellyn and Kate whenever they were needed._

_Grotle and Kirlia even witnessed the effect of a blue gem lower the effectiveness of the contained Dark Stone in front of them, and that was when Professor Hastings immediately called for Kellyn and Kate to conduct an investigation of the gems._

_The journey started with a friendly ride through Dream River on the Union Road, where several Floatzel were needed to ferry Kate, Kellyn, Grotle, and Kirlia into the cave just upstream, where in the end would lead to the snow-covered Hia Valley._

_After venturing in the dark cave, Kirlia helping them with her familiar sense of darkness, they went to the cold, cold, region of Hia Valley. The team went for a quick break at the Shiver Camp research site (just a fair distance away from the cave entrance) where they were met with some associates and a Ranger Depot._

_Soon, they went through an enduring ride on Empoleons at Ice Lake. The reason for being enduring, because they needed to smash through ice pieces to do so, where after about half an hour did they approach the doors of the legendary Almia Castle. Now abandoned._

_The investigation in to the castle was just as dangerous as the journey was, with falling chunks of ice and wild Pokémon. At one point in the castle, Grotle hesitated to cross an ice bridge, knowing that he would fall, but with some encouragement from Kellyn and Kirlia he somehow made it without falling._

_It eventually led to a bad run-on with Ice of Team Dim Sun's Sinis Trio in the wintery Almia Castle, and Kellyn sometimes wondered how he and Kate had managed to capture Ice's Froslass at all in the end. And it was an even bigger miracle afterwards with Kellyn capturing the Blue Gem guardian Lucario! The Blue Gem was delivered to the Union when they left the castle._

_The services of Grotle and Kirlia were never needed at Almia Castle, and so the Pokémon were allowed to keep travelling with the two Rangers._

* * *

_At Volcano Cave, Grotle literally panicked at the sight, let alone the thought, of traveling on a Torkoal through magma and lava-filled rivers. Kellyn offered to release the grass-type Pokémon if the latter was too uncomfortable, but Grotle strongly rejected the offer. Kirlia had similar distastes, but refused to show them in front of Kellyn. Kate, meanwhile, took the lead when it came to this Mission (whereas Kellyn had taken the lead during the Mission at Almia Castle)._

_Another encounter with Team Dim Sun also included the second member of the Sinis Trio: Lavana. Initially, she tried to use her goons (dubbed the Crimson Unit: all female, of course) to attempt to slow them down, but nothing was going to stop the speed and precision of Kellyn and Kate, supported by their Pachirisu's._

_Ultimately, Lavana brought out the big guns by whipping out her Miniremo. An Infernape ambushed Kellyn and Kate from above and knocked them over. If that wasn't enough, their Stylers were still active and the Capture Discs were suspended somewhere!_

"_Pachirisu! Go find the Capture Disc!" Kate ordered her Partner. Kellyn did the same with his Pachirisu and Kirlia._

_As their Pokémon went in search of the Capture Discs, Kellyn and Kate were left in a very dangerous situation. Since the Infernape had such excelling speed it was near impossible to try to recall their Discs, not when the Pokémon was hunting them down with physical flaming punches (in which, by instinctive dodging, they all narrowly missed the Rangers by mere inches)._

_In short, Kirlia found Kellyn's Capture Disc first, where it was lying flat on the rocky ledge beside the lava. She picked it up, threw it over to Grotle, who bounced the Disc to Pachirisu for carry-over. Kate's Pachirisu, meanwhile, found the respective Disc shortly after. The Pachirisu handed the Disc to Kirlia, and Kirlia had to run (not teleporting) to give it back to Kate._

* * *

"_Is this really what Top Rangers are supposed to act like?" Lavana taunted._

_She watched Kellyn and Kate helplessly attempt to bring Infernape down with brute strength, which didn't work at all. Lavana knew that if the Rangers dared to reach for their Fine Stylers it would become a window for Infernape to permanently damage the Styler for good._

_Kellyn was punched and Kate was thrown aside._

"_This is too easy," Lavana scoffed, brushing her hands and hair._

_As Kellyn stumbled back and Kate collapsed on the ground, their Pachirisu's finally scurried back to their Rangers' shoulders._

"_Is this your rescue party, Rangers? If you haven't noticed, they're a little on the puny side, y'know," Lavana taunted once more._

_Instead of a reply, Kellyn and Kate stood up with grins and smirks on their faces. Lavana, in turn, had her smile fade just in the slightest, as the Rangers now standing before her had their right arms raised, and their Stylers armed._

"_Capture… on!" they shouted._

* * *

_Ideally, the capture revolved around maintaining a safe distance while being consistent. Infernape threw many dangerous tactics like raising pillars of flame and creating multiple rocketing explosions in the vicinity. Grotle and Kirlia could do little to help, and so reserved their support. Kellyn and Kate, meanwhile, upheld their focus while leaping away from potential explosions._

_And at least five times did their Capture Line get damaged by the explosions._

* * *

_After that crisis (with Infernape safely captured with the backing of Pachirisu's and safely released), Lavana retreated out of the cave, but not before telling Kellyn and Kate that there was a real brutally tough Pokémon standing guard over the Red Gem, which was what the Rangers were after (and also told them that she cared more for her now-ruined makeup above all else)._

_Grotle and Kirlia once again witnessed another breathtaking capture of a legendary Pokémon by the Pokémon Rangers. The Pokémon in question was a Heatran._

_Thanks to the sheer efforts of the Rangers, the second gem was retrieved and soon delivered directly to the Ranger Union._

_Kellyn and Kate were even deployed to the marine region to infiltrate an oil refinery (Mission: Reveal the Hideout's Secrets!), and Grotle and Kirlia still decided to stay with Kellyn for the trip! In that case, they got to see sights on the water and not only on land. In fact, Grotle and Kirlia travelled _underwater_ to partake in the Mission as well._

_During the infiltration, Kate _did_ receive a voicemail from Keith, but couldn't help feeling uncomfortable that the 'vicemail' began with the words "Hea… Keith!" Not to mention that the emphasis was put on the Yellow Gem. Sven caught words like 'mash-up' instead of Mission and figured something was wrong._

"_You better head over to Haruba Desert once we rescue the Wailmer," he said._

_It was amusing to watch that the Dim Sun goons had actually mistook the Wailmer for a 'Wailord Mini' (which they wanted as a replacement for a Dim Sun cargo ship Kellyn and Kate had crashed at the Ranger School). After the twosome had picked up their old classmate Isaac and had completed a dangerous capture of Gliscor belonging to their former teacher Kincaid, Kincaid only had a few words to say._

"_You probably don't realise that the Incredible Machine in those blueprints is already 99% complete… when the Boss switches on the Incredible Machine… Team Dim Sun's future will shine with the colours of darkness."_

_He looked down on his former students. "I made it all possible. Dim Sun's future is all built upon my sacrifice. I did it by posing as the Ranger School's teacher and recruiting a boy genius. Yes, a genius of the sort that comes once a century… that would be Isaac!"_

_Kate was furious. "No wonder you were so mean to us at the School!"_

"_Zip that mouth, Kate," Kincaid said. "For my achievement the Boss has promised to reward me with a post as an Altru executive…"_

_Unfortunately for Kincaid, the oil refinery fell under attack by an actual Wailord!_

"_A Wailord is ramming our base!" the Dim Sun admins reported._

"_A Wailord is attacking our base?!" Kincaid exclaimed. "I – I'm abandoning the base! I've got too much at stake! I am a man with destiny! I'm too much of a man to be drowning down here with the likes of YOU! (the admins, not the Rangers). My underlings and Isaac… I wash my hands of you! Swim your own way out of this mess!"_

_Kincaid got out using the platform he was standing on, which was really a submarine. With no choice, the admins jumped in after him with their aquabreathers. However, his submarine fell under attack by the same Wailord!_

_Only did Isaac realise he had been cheated, that the Incredible Machine was not a machine to promote friendship between Pokémon and people at all._

_The daring infiltration, spearheaded by Sven, was only a partial success then. Sven called for cleanup operation by ordering nearby Area Rangers to rescue the remaining Pokémon in the hideout. Other good outcomes included the seizure of the Incredible Machine blueprints, saving the Wailmer, and rescuing Isaac from Team Dim Sun. In short, it was a Mission Clear!_

_The duo of Rangers did their trademark poses in front of Sven. Afterwards, they left the underwater base to surface to file their report. As Sven had arrived at the oil refinery by boat, he was able to transport Kate, Kellyn, Grotle, and Kirlia to Haruba Desert before transporting Isaac to the Union._

* * *

_Kellyn and Kate left for Haruba Village in the southeastern most part of Almia. In the process…_

There was an unnatural presence when the two Rangers arrived at the community. A sandstorm had whipped up upon arrival, and quite an amount of Hippopotas had raised sand mounds causing roadblocks to the desert north of the village.

Kate looked to see the local (named Henry) publicly announcing people to get a round of his coffee and espresso "with a dash of grittiness".

"Get your delicious coffee here!" he shouted.

_How can he speak with all this sand around?!_ Kellyn thought with clenched teeth.

Kate's eyes went very round. She panicked, looked at her Pachirisu, and Grotle, before marching closer to where Henry was. Kellyn followed suit and went to hear what Henry was exactly saying.

"Go figure," Kellyn said.

What they saw behind Henry was _not_ a coffee-making machine but was a yellow Gigaremo! It was without a doubt, with all its mechanical gears loudly whirring and creating disturbing sounds, causing the chaos around the area. Even Henry's son Hank confirmed the Rangers' suspicions.

"Uh… dad?" he said. "The trouble with this coffeemaker is how noisy it is. Oh, and how it makes the coffee smell like oil a bit."

But Henry reprimanded his own son with proud words. "Now, don't quibble over the little things. You're getting espressos in the sticks like this! That's miraculous enough as it is! Get your delicious coffees and espressos here! They're all the rage!"

But Kate also had had enough. Turning to Kellyn, she gave him simple instructions.

"The Gigaremo here requires the field move Crush. I think I saw a Sudowoodo when we were at the pier. Maybe you should go capture it."

"Will do, Kate," Kellyn said. "I might need a Pelipper to help me out, so I might take a while."

He went back to the pier with Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia following him closely. Kate meanwhile decided to take shelter at the Ranger Depot until Kellyn returned.

* * *

When the situation with the Gigaremo was dealt with (thus the Hippopotas' retreating back to their homes and the sandstorm clearing), and Kellyn and Kate just _fuming_ at the kind of misunderstanding Henry had the whole time, Henry gave his formal apologies, and had no idea that the 'coffeemaker' was really a Gigaremo (in spite of reading about it in the regional paper!).

"Oh my gosh! Nooooo!" he cried. "I did something awful! I didn't mean it though! I caused those poor Hippopotas a lot of suffering! The Hippopotas were hypnotized by this Gigaremo thing, you say? Is that why they whipped up the sandstorm?"

"What else…?" Kate retorted.

Even so, Kate recognized the situation as only being minor. A direr situation had approached when a 'vicemail' from 'Keith' instructed her to extract the Yellow Gem from the Hippowdon Temple just north of the village.

With only just Kate herself designating this as a Mission (Get the Yellow Gem!), Kellyn was pressed into service to give as much support to Kate as he could. The journey began with a trek through Haruba Desert. Kirlia couldn't see at all as the sunlight had caused a mass reflection on the sand and directly into Kirlia's eyes. Grotle, with a natural shell to reflect the heat, wasn't so affected. The team crossed dunes and climbed cliffs all in an effort to get closer to the Hippowdon Temple (where the gem was expected to be).

Before they got there, the rangers had to actually capture a Hippowdon causing a vicious sandstorm at the Temple's entrance. The Pokémon was also essential to filling up a gap that allowed access to the temple anyway. The capture took some time, but not a lot, and the Rangers were granted entry into the temple.

* * *

Again, no one said that journeying with Pokémon Ranger was going to be easy.

Kirlia had the benefit of teleporting place to place to avoid charging Golem, but Grotle had to run away to avoid contact. Likewise, Kate and Kellyn had to do their best to avoid the collisions.

The Temple was, like the Chroma Ruins, virtually a maze. But this time there were currents of sand and firing cannons everywhere. Grotle and Kirlia had to take it step-by-step to avoid being separated from Kellyn!

* * *

About an hour later, after getting past treacherous disappearing walkways, they dropped down a deep hole to reach a particular chamber, with the room with the Yellow Gem just a step deeper in. Kellyn and Kate found that the final obstacle to retrieve it was capturing the guardian Cresselia.

"You can do the honour," Kellyn said. "I've already captured Lucario, and we captured Heatran together. If you really need me, though, I'll be right here."

Kate raised her Fine Styler, shouting, "Capture… on!"

* * *

The initial attack came when Cresselia fired a wave of psychic power in the Rangers' direction. With the Capture Disc being Kate's priority, she had to keep it within a safe distance from Cresselia while the Ranger herself had to stay a safe distance too.

"Keep it up, Kate!" Kellyn cheered. Kate briefly looked at him with a warm smile before continuing the capture.

The primary tactics Kate utilized were mainly stunning Cresselia with a bolt from Pachirisu and then following with constant loops from the Capture Line. Cresselia only made the situation more dangerous when the guardian sent a shadow ball to mindlessly speed around the field. Kellyn needed to flee from the black orb, and only when the shadow ball changed targets did he stop, only to see that the flame was going after his Friend Pokémon.

"Don't stop running!" he ordered.

However, Grotle could keep away from the shadow ball and it was bearing down on him.

"Grotle!" Kellyn shouted, and instinctively he jumped in front of his Friend Pokémon to take a heroic hit on the chest, although he did it with his arms raised. Kellyn knew he was being idiotic, but he also knew that his Fine Styler should be able to at least absorb half the damage.

The impact came, and it stayed there trying to push Kellyn down, but the Ranger would not back down to the power. He knew that he was starting to lose energy, when he saw the power gauge of his Styler start to deplete.

Kate divided her attention and stared at Kellyn, shocked, but Kellyn only glared back.

"Keep that capture going, don't stop!" Kellyn yelled. "I'll be fine!"

Kate continued the capture, and she had to dodge another psychic wave to do so. When she returned her sight to where Cresselia was, the Pokémon was no longer in sight.

"SHE'S RIGHT ON TOP OF YOU!" Kellyn roared.

Too late.

Another psychic wave came rocketing down from above, and Kate felt her world was falling to pieces. In addition, the Fine Styler attached on her arm felt like it was being crushed from severe damage.

Protected by her Styler, Kate didn't suffer that much internal damage. However, for her mental well-being she screamed in pain, and her Styler was left at 20% power.

As much as Kellyn would want to help his co-worker, he couldn't. Not when he was trying to keep a Shadow Ball at bay with his Pokémon to support him. Basically, his Pokémon provided the manpower to maintain the Shadow Ball at its present position, and Kellyn alone was pushing the Shadow Ball away at the cost of Styler energy.

At the same time, Kate blinked several times and massaged her forehead, temples, and eyes. Her vision was blurred, and her head dizzy.

"Kate! Don't just stand there, retrieve your Capture Disc!" Kellyn shouted.

But it was fruitless, since Kate could barely stand straight.

"OW!" Kate yelled, as she felt a jolt from her feet to the tips of her hair.

Somehow, she felt more awake, and realised that it was her Pachirisu who had just given her an electrical shock from below. Kate finally came to her senses, despite of some side effects from the psychic blast she had just gotten.

"Let's go!" Kate rallied herself, aiming her fingers to where Cresselia levitated.

She once again resumed her Capture Line around Cresselia and tried to keep the loop as tight as she could, but not to the point where the guardian of the Yellow Gem could touch the Capture Disc. With Cresselia now trying to fight off Kate, the Shadow Ball finally disappeared and gave Kellyn, Grotle, and Kirlia a long breather.

"Poké Assist Electric!" Kate said with motive. "Double power!"

Once again, this was one of the occasional times where the two Pachirisu's would jointly use their assist power to support Kate's (or Kellyn's) Styler. They simultaneously fired their trademark (and probably only) lightning bolt at Kate's Styler to achieve double paralysis.

With the Capture Line now using the electric effect, Cresselia found she was unable to move, and that was when Kate took full advantage of that to finish the capture. The letters 'OK!' popped up on her Fine Styler.

"Capture complete!" Kate said triumphantly as she fell back onto the ground, exhausted.

* * *

As the capture was officially finished, Kellyn took a long look at the aftermath. His Styler was left at 50% power. Kate was lying still on the ground, and Cresselia looked carefully at the Rangers.

He ran over to his co-worker, and he and Kirlia helped Kate back onto her feet.

"That was a really impressive capture you did there," Kellyn complimented.

"Hah… thank you, Kellyn," Kate said. "But… where's Keith?"

"What do you mean?" Kellyn said, his voice hesitant.

"He gave me a voicemail earlier, which is why we're here!" Kate explained. "I gave his voicemail a Mission designation, but I thought that Keith would be here by now."

They, including the Pokémon, looked to Cresselia. The latter simply beamed at them and decided to entrust them with the Yellow Gem, and later departed.

"You can take the gem, Kellyn. I can stand," Kate assured him.

With that being said, Kellyn left Kate in the care of Grotle and Kirlia as he went to retrieve the crescent-shaped stone shining a bright yellow. Grinning, he brought back the treasured rock in front of Kate, and they held smiles.

"I guess… that's a Mission Clear!" Kellyn announced, as he passed the Yellow Gem into her hands.

Kate's smile became a relieved one. Before they did their Ranger poses with their Fine Stylers, Kate glanced at the Yellow Gem in her hands and admired its radiance. She still reflected on all the hard work she had to put in to have the Yellow Gem in possession now!

* * *

The portal leading to the Temple entrance wasn't far off. It was right outside of the Yellow Gem chamber (the reason being that the only way to approach the Yellow Gem was for Kellyn and Kate to drop into a deep hole with no way to get back up, therefore… no escape!). The portal was not hard to find, as it was simply a shimming light in the shadowy corner.

"You still want to hold onto the gem, eh?" Kellyn joked. "Can I hold it?"

"Not a chance!" was the reply Kellyn got, with Kate jerking her arms from Kellyn's direction.

_Alright, alright…_ he thought. Looking back at Grotle and Kirlia, who were wearing looks of exhaustion, he thought, _I think now would be the time to rest now._

The whole group left the Yellow Gem chamber and prepared to leave for the portal via an ancient platform bridging the chamber and the perimeter. The Rangers took the lead to the portal.

But then all dreams were shattered.

The familiar whirring of a descending helicopter approached the vicinity, and the Rangers stared to see a helicopter coloured in black and purple. And beside the door… the insignia of Team Dim Sun!

"No… not now," said a battle-weary Kate.

"Hoy! Kate! Nice work you get the Yellow Gem!" said a rough voice. "Very good going!"

The eyes of Kate and Kellyn went very wide. There was no way that this could be Keith.

To their shock, the door slid open and a rough-looking and muscular man with spiky yellow hair stepped into the open. He had a rough face, come to that.

"Although…" he continued, "very dumb it was for you, following silly vicemail all long way out here to this big Harbua Desert. I imitating Keith good, yes? Mimic him like he was me, right? But too bad for you! Team Dim Sun, I am belonging to! But, more, more, more, I am one of Boss's favourites, the Sinis Trio!"

Kellyn nearly shot Kate an angry glance, but he stopped himself at the last moment when he saw Kate's eyes had hinted she was tired, and very much betrayed.

The man leapt from the helicopter onto the ground, and continued his speech. "My name, it is Heath! Not Keith! Heath! How do you like that?!"

He flexed his muscles first, and then Heath kept talking, "First, I think to myself, "Get the Yellow Gem myself, I will!" But there be a Pokémon, Cresselia, being guardian to that rock. Then, along came a Ranger, kind of happy, kind of go lucky. Surprise! Surprise! He try to capturing that Cresselia!"

Kellyn's eyes and Kate's eyes widened much more, and knew at once that Heath was talking about none other than Keith.

"I think to myself, "Good chance for me! He capturing Pokémon, I getting rock!" But that Ranger, Keith, he no good! He fail capturing Cresselia!" Heath kept talking. "Irritating to see it make me, but then flash! I have inspiration come to me! Rumours I am hearing of very skillful Rangers named Kellyn and Kate. I think to self, "Reel in Kellyn and Kate and I do with friend-o Keith act as bait. So, I send fake vicemail!"

Heath finished with a rough laugh.

"Why, _you_!" Kellyn's voice was laden with anger.

Kellyn charged straight forward, leaving behind his Pokémon and a tired out Kate, and attempted to tackle Heath.

"You will pay for this treachery!" Kellyn roared.

"You think or you will try?" Heath taunted.

Kellyn lunged at Heath with a fist, but the Pokémon Ranger had his head pounded by Heath's palm and was tossed aside.

"Good job, Kellyn, one more!" Heath taunted once more.

Kellyn stood up to throw a left fist at Heath, but found it was caught in the bigger one of Heath's and Heath wrenched Kellyn downward on one knee. Kellyn tried to stay strong, pushing upward against the might of Heath's, but it had little effect.

Heath then switched his target to bring his other big hand on Kellyn's shoulder. With a firm grip, he began to crush his shoulder, and Kellyn yelled in pain.

"ARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

"This is Ranger's Styler arm, no?" Heath said. "Why Heath smash Styler to bits when he can smash arm? Ranger Kellyn will never can capture Pokémon again!"

Kate watched in horror at the sight of her co-worker being brought down so mercilessly and in so much pain, and didn't know what to do. Sure, she had Pokémon beside her, but that could compromise Kellyn's safety.

Grotle and Kirlia were the first to step up, but their tactic was sadly shut down with a simple shaking of the head by Kate.

"So, now you understand?" Heath directed the question to Kate. "The Yellow Gem, you give me now. Of course, I am fair, I trade you something for rock."

With Kellyn brought down on a knee and at his mercy with Heath crushing his shoulder, Heath let go of Kellyn's declining fist and snapped his fingers.

"I give you your friends, quite important, and I take Yellow Gem. Fair deal!" Heath offered.

The space in the helicopter now had a Team Dim Sun goon standing there, and standing beside goon was a Ranger bound in tight rope. Keith!

"Kate! Don't do it! Don't give it to him!" Keith shouted.

"SILENCE!" Heath yelled at him, and looked at Kate again. "Silly Keith. Maybe brave, but smart, not so much. Like Kellyn here! Yellow Gem for blue-face Keith, and knee-down Kellyn. You make trade, yes?"

Keith slowly shook his head, pleading Kate not to do so.

"No," Kate firmly replied. "I know what's right."

"Oh, you no care about Keith?" Heath said. "Okay, but what about Kellyn? Here's deal. Give me Yellow Gem, and I give _both_ Keith and Kellyn back. You make trade, yes?"

Kate merely shook her head. She may be battle-weary and tired, but that didn't obstruct her senses. She knew what was right.

But then Heath brought his other hand onto Kellyn's remaining shoulder and began to crush it as well. Heath's tactics first came by applying even _greater_ pressure, and second by ramming Kellyn deeper to the ground, despite having a knee to support the latter.

"_Kate…_" Kellyn rasped. "_Don't give up! Just get to the portal!_ – ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHH!"

Heath was coming too close to completely crushing Kellyn's shoulders now.

For Kate, Heath saw that her eyes that were once confident had been replaced by worry. In turn, the worried eyes were replaced by fear, and in turn the fearful and tired eyes were replaced by… defeat.

Kate's consciousness fell into a state of tiredness. She knew she had just accomplished a feat by capturing Cresselia and getting the Yellow Gem, but now what could she do with it? It was key for the Mission, but now her friends' lives were at stake. The burden rested on Kate, and she was overwhelmed by defeat at the sight of a captive Keith and a suffering Kellyn.

Slowly, she walked towards Heath.

"No! Kate!" Keith shouted in protest.

Walking closer with the Yellow Gem…

Kellyn gasped for air as pain devastated his senses, and it was not just because of Heath's severe blows to Kellyn's shoulders. The other thing that devastated Kellyn was that Kate was willing to surrender the Yellow Gem in exchange for him and Keith.

Kate stopped in front of Heath, and willingly gave the Yellow Gem to him.

"Ah, smart is your deciding!" Heath brutally rejoiced.

He let go of Kellyn at last, in which Kellyn collapsed on the ground severely weakened where Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia went over to quickly help him. Heath climbed aboard and stood behind Keith. "Okay, you take Keith back. You no drop him. Catch."

Heath tossed Keith to the ground, where Kate reacted too late to catch him and fell with a _thud_.

Kate wanted to get to Keith, but was distracted by Heath once more.

"I give you bonus, too. Generous of me, yes?" Heath asked, but already knew the answer.

The response was a grim and defeated silence from Kate.

"Catch!" Heath whipped out a Miniremo and put it to use before airlifting away.

_No…_ Kate thought.

A Magnezone appeared from above and landed.

Her Styler was still stuck at 20% power and was in no condition to capture. Kate might as well try, but that could mean permanently destroying her new Fine Styler. But since she was going to lose anyway, she might as well try.

"Capture on!" Kate shouted.

* * *

Kate fired her Capture Disc.

The first thing Kate did was utilize charge capture by powering up her Styler for a short amount of time. This way, her Capture Line would retain more power as she tried to capture the Magnezone.

Magnezone countered by establishing defences such as electric orbs and mines. Some of them even hit the Capture Line several times and reduced Kate's Styler power to about 9%. It was the be-all, end-all, as Kate had nothing to lose now she was this badly close to defeat…

But somehow, a second Capture Disc had sailed through the air and drew a Capture Line around the Magnezone. Kate looked to see Kellyn trying to sit up, with his head rested on Grotle and Kirlia franticly trying to keep the Ranger's weakened arm suspended in the air. Kellyn looked at Kate with a barely-alive expression suggesting she keep capturing.

Kate nodded.

With Kellyn's Capture Line now taking most of the hits, all Kate needed to do was maneuver her Styler so that she would continue to capture as usual. Slowly, she was making good progress.

But when Kellyn's Capture Disc fell to the ground, Kate knew that her co-worker was out cold. She now stood alone against the monstrosity of Magnezone.

But, with the assistance of her Pachirisu, a stunning shock allowed Kate to finish the capture. Unlike before, she lacked the strength to utter the words, "Capture complete." She didn't have the mind to do so, and was close to breaking down.

* * *

Kate used her reserves of strength to get Keith untied.

"Kate… sorry about the mess," Keith said. "No, I'm not feeling _that_ down on myself. But still, even if I am feeling down. I can get back up again right away."

Kate raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, you know me, I'm Keith! I'm always positive and upbeat, right?" he said. "I'm okay, or at least I will be okay."

Kate shook her head and looked in the direction of the fallen Kellyn, with his respective Pokémon beside him. "Try saying that in front of him. Kellyn wasn't as fortunate as you."

Keith and Kate rushed over to Kellyn, who had his eyes wide open, but there was no sign of any consciousness. Kellyn was alive (as Kate had checked), but was unresponsive.

"Okay, I suppose I'm a little embarrassed," Keith admitted. "I'll go take Kellyn back to the Union first and foremost. And secondly…"

Keith's Partner Buizel was reunited with him, in which Keith apologised for putting Buizel under a lot of stress.

"Kate, thanks for saving me," Keith said. "I'll make up for it. Promise!"

Kate only nodded, but with a smile now. "I suppose that's fair. First, though, you better get Kellyn off for recovery. Grotle and Kirlia can help you out, since they have –"

"WHAT?!" Keith said, surprised. "You mean that Kellyn _still_ hasn't released THE Grotle from Vien Forest… and THE Kirlia from the Chroma Ruins a while ago?! You mean that after all you've been through from getting all three gems… and they still haven't parted form Kellyn?!"

This _did_ lighten Kate's mood.

"The very same," Kate simply replied.

Keith hoisted Kellyn's limp body on top of Grotle and motioned for Kirlia and Kellyn's Pachirisu to follow him to the portal.

As they left, Kate could have sworn she heard Keith mutter, "That's pure loyalty there… it's ridiculous… that's loyalty there…"

Kate looked around the room once more, and went into the portal as well…

* * *

Now, Kate was at the entrance of Hippowdon Temple once more. With Kellyn and Keith nowhere in sight, Kate sighed and travelled across the scorching desert to look for a nearby Staraptor, which she would later ride on and make her report to the Ranger Union when she got there.

_I sure hope Kellyn's okay…_ Kate thought with sheer worry. But at least now he was being delivered to the Union itself now for treatment.

* * *

It ended, inevitably as it seemed, at the Control Room of the Ranger Union.

Kate and Keith were standing before Chairperson Erma and Professor Hastings to file in their report. Kellyn, who was absent, had his Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia stand beside Kate on his behalf.

"I see, yes, I see…" Hastings murmured. "So the Yellow Gem has fallen into the hands of Team Dim Sun… Fine, so it goes."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

Professor Hastings replied with a smile at first. "We'll devise a new plan accordingly. There is absolutely no time to be feeling sorry for ourselves!"

"The professor is right," Erma approved. "But more importantly, I'm glad Keith and Kellyn have returned here safe. Our next operation will be crucial, but it can wait overnight, I'm sure. I'm sure everyone is exhausted after this hectic day."

Kate could not agree any better. She was completely tired out from the day and felt like she had no strength left. That reminded her of something!

"Chairperson," Kate said timidly. "May I ask what Kellyn's condition is right now?"

Keith and Professor Hastings briefly grimaced.

"He's incredibly weak, with the kind of pressure he received on his shoulders they should have been broken, and he did have breathing problems at first, but we expect him to make a complete recovery," Erma explained. "If the recovery process is somewhat miraculous, we expect him to be back into service within eighteen hours. Like Kellyn, we all need to be at full health tomorrow, so be sure to get well-rested."

After Erma had adjourned the meeting, Kate rushed downstairs to where Kellyn was supposedly recovering from his injuries. Kate opened the room, and found him still unconscious. She sighed and pulled up a chair next to her co-worker. Mixed feelings filled Kate's mind.

"This is my fault," she said. "If I – if I had given –"

Kate could only cry, and she didn't notice Grotle, the Pachirisu's, and Kirlia slip into the room.

"I know you wanted me to never give up the gem," Kate said to Kellyn. "But I had to! I couldn't stand to see you suffering, Kellyn! If I kept it up, I could have been the reason that your arms would be broken, and you could never capture a Pokémon again! Keith could have still been captive at this point! I'm sorry, Kellyn! But what could I do?"

Slowly, Kate put a gentle hand on Kellyn's hand.

Kate went on. "Even so, I'm thankful that I have a co-worker like you. You even saved me from destroying my Styler against that Magnezone! And how did I repay you? I nearly broke your arms, and your entire career as a Pokémon Ranger!"

"It's over…" she cried. "The Incredible Machine is pretty much finished, and I wonder if it a miracle could happen that you, me, and Keith could be prepared for what's coming tomorrow… I'm scared, Kellyn!"

Kirlia walked over and tugged on Kate's free hand. Slightly surprised, but more overcome by regret, Kate looked at Kirlia in tears, joy, embarrassment, and relief. Kate realised that Kirlia and the other Pokémon weren't going to let her suffer alone, and offered the Pokémon Ranger some sense of comfort.

"Thank you, Kirlia," she said with tears. "But Kellyn… I'm sorry! I'm really, really, sorry!"

Grotle and Kirlia made expressions which Kate interpreted for a bit, and somehow Kate felt much more relieved, and much better.

Kellyn's Friend Pokémon were implying to Kate that Kellyn would have accepted her constant apologies anyway, and that Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia were willing to take them on Kellyn's behalf. But Kate kindly refused the offer, saying she would rather apologise to Kellyn directly.

Indeed, an unconscious Kellyn lying on the bed still could capture the key points of Kate's tearful and honest conversation. The Pokémon Ranger, co-worker to Kate, still had one thought he hung on to.

_Like you said earlier, you did know what was right, Kate. And… thank you._


	5. Operation Brighton: Prelude

**Finally: here it is: The Beginning of The End.**

**Not for "Lasting Friendships", of course not! This is the beginning of the end of the end of the game, not the end of the story! The end of the story will come later.**

**What I own here, is much of the actions and speech made by Kate and Kellyn. Most speeches in this story I take credit for.**

**This chapter is a transition chapter, but will briefly include the events of "Protect Ranger Union HQ!".**

* * *

_**Chapter five: Operation Brighton: Prelude**_

Under normal circumstances, it should have been the appropriate day to take an endearing walk to enjoy the grand nature of Almia.

"Hey, Keith!" shouted Rhythmi. "Have you seen Kate? She's supposed to be here for the morning briefing!"

"I'll go look for her. She shouldn't be that far away, anyway," Keith offered.

The briefing was scheduled to take place in an hour, and although everyone was expected to have at least twelve hours of solid sleeping for the previous night, no one seemed to be in any condition to act. Keith thought of grabbing a few more minutes of sleep before he actually went past the room where Kellyn was staying. Keith thought that, if he was going to grab Kate, he might as well wake up Kellyn too.

He opened the door, and boy was he close to laughing.

Keith saw both Kate and Kellyn asleep. Kellyn was sleeping (and maybe still recovering) on the bed he had been resting on for at least seventeen hours. Kate was sitting on a chair beside Kellyn, and it appeared that the latter Pokémon Ranger had slept by resting her head on the bed with her arms to act as a cushion (and right on top of Kellyn's hand). The Pachirisu's were snugly resting on top of Grotle, and Grotle himself was resting near the corner, whereas Kirlia seemed much wide awake.

"Time to wake up, guys," Keith softly said.

But when neither Kate nor Kellyn stirred, let alone the Pokémon, Keith decided to take more drastic action (acting right upon impulse), and he snickered at the thought of doing it.

But he did it anyway.

"UP AND AT 'EM! IT'S MORNING!" Keith shouted at the top of his lungs.

Kate snapped awake and nearly fell off her chair. Likewise, Kellyn snapped awake, but his reflexes were a bit slow to react. The Pokémon, however, were scared silly.

* * *

The morning briefing delivered news of the continual deciphering of the recovered diary found in the Chroma Highlands, which was good. However, as Professor Hastings brought before Kate, Kellyn, and Keith, the blueprints of the Incredible Machine were coded and refused to open, despite the Union's strong attempts at cracking it, and Isaac refused to cooperate.

But it all worked out later, when Isaac _did_ come upstairs to the control room to deliver the password at last (being 'Melody', the name of his little sister), but not before admitting to his mistakes that he was being used by Team Dim Sun, after all.

Hastings jumped at the moment. "Thank you, Isaac! That took some real courage, I'm sure! This could save Almia! Tell the researchers, the password is "Melody!" Wait, there's not exclamation mark. It's just "Melody." And without a period either!"

Chairperson Erma, along with the Rangers and the Pokémon, rolled their eyes.

At the conference room, Nage brought upon the meeting the completed codes of the Incredible Machine's blueprints. Kellyn, Kate, Keith, Isaac, Erma, Professor Hastings, Sven, and Wendy all witnessed the data under their feet, and it revealed to be Altru Tower, the landmark in the port city of Pueltown! (To be fair, Kellyn told all about it to Grotle and Kirlia afterwards)

Hastings paced around the floor, and deduced that at the top of the tower overlooking all of Almia was probably going to be the hauled-out Shadow Crystal. He then left the room in a state of thinking, or as Erma called it, a "solitary strategy session".

Later, Kellyn and Kate went out on a patrol once more, and along the way they made a friend in a member of Team Dim Sun at Boyleland, whom they fished him out of the former Dim Sun base in the volcano. Grotle didn't go, of course, for addressing concerns of safety, and waited for the duo of Rangers at the Ranger Depot.

* * *

Many hours later, upon the twosome's return to the Ranger Union, Kellyn, Kate, Grotle, and Kirlia stood to hear the next briefing given by Isaac on the roof. The glowing light given by the Red and Blue Gems shimmered brilliantly in their midst.

"Professor Hastings, sir, if you will, please…" Erma edged Hastings to talk.

The Pokémon Professor cleared his throat. "First and foremost: before I outline our full-scale operation, you all will need to know a little bit more about Altru Tower. I have charged Isaac to do this sort of research, so Isaac, please."

Everyone's eyes turned to Isaac, who nodded.

"The tower is 334 metres tall in height. Or, for those of you who aren't big on Metric, it's just slightly less than 1100 feet. From that height, you could basically see all of Almia, given that the tower is quite close to the center of the region," he said.

"But it's not an observation deck for tourists or really anything of the sort," Isaac explained. "It had to be that tall to gain control over every known Pokémon in Almia. The Shadow Crystal uncovered in the Chroma Ruins will be, or rather, is set on top of the tower. For more detail, a strong electrical feed to the crystal unleashes its power."

Kellyn raised a quick hand. "So to what extent can the Shadow Crystal reach when activated?"

Isaac did the instant math in his head. "It will gain control all Pokémon within an approximate 500-mile radius, or for those of you who prefer Metric, around 800 kilometres. In a nutshell, vigorously researched and measured by us at the Union, the Incredible Machine's power is equal to roughly _eight million_ Gigaremo units."

"What the what?" was the only reply that came straight from Kate. Everyone else shuddered at the thought of _eight million Gigaremo_ power.

Isaac wasn't done. "Halfway up the tower is the centralised control room, where it allows the control of individual Pokémon with unique signals from each one."

"So, sort of like the power you get from a Miniremo," Keith said.

Isaac's face was grim as he responded, "It also has approximately 300 times more commands than the Miniremo too. I would advise strong caution when dealing with that thing."

With that being said, Isaac backed away.

"And so that brings the report of Altru Tower to an end," Hastings said. "The facts courtesy of Isaac shared with us in collaboration of our gathered facts from previous investigations can only conclude with the picture of what we will be facing. Kincaid, of course, misleading Isaac into thinking the tower would be used for peace with the words, "a peaceful project for fostering new means of communication between Pokémon and people," he was told."

_The bully…_ Kate darkly thought.

"So that brings us down to the question, what _is_ their true objective?" Hastings asked rhetorically. "The answer was found in Brighton's diary: "X month, XX day. My son, Blake Hall, having just turned sixteen, drove me out of the company. His parting words crushed me. 'I will eliminate anyone who stands in the way of my world domination, even my father.' My son has become the main character in his own nightmare, the nightmare woven by the Shadow Crystal…" that is as far as we have gone to deciphering the diary."

Hastings looked from left to right. Apart from Isaac, everyone seemed to have some trouble processing and comprehending what they had just heard.

Barlow, still a Leader, was shocked. "Blake Hall is aiming to take over the world?!"

Sven, however, wasn't so surprised. "The Incredible Machine can control all the Pokémon in the world, supposedly. If that's so, then world domination doesn't seem so far-fetched."

"But, Isaac," Kellyn prepared to ask, worried, "what will happen to all our Pokémon?"

"According to a subsidiary report," Isaac replied, "your Partner Pokémon should be fine, and the likelihood of your captured Friend Pokémon being affected during the effect should just be slightly less than that of your Partner, but not by much."

"Glad to hear that," Kellyn replied back, looking slightly more relieved. Kate and Keith knew exactly why, obviously, but they refused to say a word.

"World domination over Almia… That's horrible…" Wendy said.

A rumble erupted soon after, and Isaac deduced that it was a test to run power to the Incredible Machine from far away at Altru Tower. Although Isaac could tell, and told the briefing, that the test was a failure.

"Imagine what would have happened if they somehow managed to do the final adjustments to the program?" Isaac asked, and before anyone could react, he said, "That's because I was supposed to do them. Unfortunately, even without the use of final adjustments the tower will still be able to function. It's power will be reduced to roughly half, but it will work. There's a reason why there was some sort of fail-safe installed, just in case."

Again, another moment of silence followed for everyone to take in.

"Even running at just half-power, the Incredible Machine will still be capable to wreak havoc and beldam far and wide," Hastings added, and then he turned for a moment and turned again.

"Look alive, everyone!" he shouted, and everyone rallied their attention. "It's time to announce our plan. Extensive analysis of the blueprints makes one thing abundantly clear. It is virtually impossible to shut down the tower's electrical circuits."

Any hopes for a quick operation died with Hastings' words.

"That leaves us with one option," the Professor continued, pacing left and right. "We must do something about the Shadow Crystal at the top of the tower. However, infiltrating the tower will only be an undertaking loaded with tons of danger on top. What then, can we do?"

Kellyn and Kate felt a sense of dread that followed. If not infiltrating…

"There remains only one course of action," Hastings declared. "We must mount a front-line assault on the tower from the outside."

They knew it.

"Remember earlier how the three pendants shone on the rooftop, and how they neutralized the dark aura of the Dark Shard into transparent?" the Professor kept pacing. "Well, I'm thinking of the same thing for the top of the tower!"

"Are you suggesting…?" Kellyn started.

"Exactly!" Hastings said, relieved. "We will attempt to do the same effect at the top of the tower. For that, ideally, we'll need the utilisation of the Red, Blue, and Yellow Gems together. Although we only have two… (he glanced at the two Gems behind him) we should be able to severely weaken the tower's power. The tower should be able to run at 70% efficiency if we succeed."

Hastings designated Sven and Wendy to bring the Gems to the tower via Staraptor, and in the meantime Kate, Kellyn, and Keith were assigned to remain on permanent standby at the Union in case if anything happened. Barlow would assign Area Rangers to issue a full-scale public warning.

"Finally, we need a name for our operation," Hastings concluded. "We shall borrow the name of the writer of that charred diary. We shall call it Operation Brighton!"

All the Rangers looked to the name with pride.

"Alright, everyone, let Operation Brighton commence!" Hastings ordered.

* * *

Kellyn and Kate were bored.

Not just bored like usual, but _bored_ bored. With the exception of Keith, everyone was out in the field doing their objectives for Operation Brighton. And what were Kate and Kellyn doing? They were confined in the Union building to protect it. In short, isolation.

"You know, Grotle, if you're uncomfortable about embarking on this operation, then you can leave now, the same to you Kirlia," Kellyn said sadly. "But then again, I can't stand to see the two of you fall under the control of Team Dim Sun. I mean, look! We've been through so much together… do you still want to stay with me? Or would you rather head back to the wild where you belong?"

To Kellyn's heartwarming response, his two Friend Pokémon declined the offer to be released.

* * *

Unfortunately as it happened, before Kellyn could say any more, the Ranger Union fell under attack. First, it was Heath, who was amused to see Kellyn standing and fit once more, and attacked the front entrance in a cloud of smoke.

"Well, look what we are having here! Is this not Kellyn?" Heath growled tauntingly. "I see shoulders doing better now, yes? That Yellow Gem your girlfriend give me nicely as big present for two lifes. We is hiding it away, very, very, careful, like. Where can it be? In tower somewhere!"

Kellyn glared at Heath at the mention of Kate's defeat.

"Don't speak of her!" Kellyn demanded.

"Oh… Heath getting Kellyn soft spot?" Heath added in a mocking tone. Additionally, he brought out a Miniremo and attacked Kellyn with an Electivire. Thanks to Grotle and Kirlia, Heath couldn't really make a good control of Electivire as the formers frequently knocked the Miniremo away, which caused instability and improper control of the Electivire.

But the unmistakable sound a burrowing drill and a collapsing wall could be loudly heard from the top. Alarmed, Kate went upstairs to quickly investigate while Kellyn was busy with Heath, but not before designating the attack as a Mission (Protect Ranger Union HQ!)

Meanwhile, Kate witnessed a heartbreaking blackmail situation where Ice and Lavana, the other members of the Sinis Trio alongside Heath, had taken Isaac's sister Melody as a hostage and demanded Isaac return to the Incredible Machine to make the final adjustments mentioned earlier.

With the life of her sister at stake, Isaac walked over to Lavana (a helpless and sorrowful Kate watched him get taken away).

So Kate and Keith were left to deal with Ice's Garchomp, and fortunately reinforcements arrived when an exhausted Kellyn arrived on the floor they were on (with Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia obviously). After a combined successful capture of the Pokémon, Ice retreated. But it only got worse when Murph ran to them shouting away that the third floor (the control room) was under attack.

But when they went there, Kellyn and Kate were at first intimidated by a large number of Pokémon, but relaxed when they found out that they were all Bidoof. Furthermore, it was only Wheeler, Blake Hall's useless assistant, who was leading the attack.

The capture only lasted three seconds with Kate drawing a single loop around the room.

* * *

In the end, it was very much a loss. Team Dim Sun left announcing that they had completed their primary objectives and had blown up (yes, using explosives) the escalator leading to the roof. In spite of the damage, Kellyn and Kate were certified with a Mission Clear for protecting the Union.

The operation needed to be reorganised, according to Professor Hastings and Erma. A report from Sven included that the tower had protective fields that made it intolerable to approach the tower. After some persuasion from Kate, Kellyn, and Keith, and even Kellyn's Pokémon, Professor Hastings officially assigned them to partake in the frontal assault.

Priority One was to rescue Isaac and Melody by infiltration.

Priority Two was to reclaim the Yellow Gem.

Priority Three was for Keith to take the Yellow Gem and rejoin Sven and Wendy.

Finally, Kellyn and Kate were assigned the crucial and essential task of Operation Brighton: to scale the tower, and disable the barriers preventing the airborne Rangers from coming closer to the Shadow Crystal.

Hastings guaranteed that the Mission would be their toughest yet, with a promise of tough foes. But Kellyn and Kate showed no signs of fear at the description of this Mission as they took it.

They were Pokémon Rangers, above everything else. The Mission came as no surprise.

* * *

**Review, please. Operation Brighton chapters will upload from this point on!**


	6. Operation Brighton

**As promised, thanks to Eeveeleah, Operation Brighton chapters will begin uploading. Here it is!**

**This chapter (and many of what will come later) will focus on "Execute Operation Brighton!" in detail. However, I will explain mainly the important parts.**

* * *

_**Chapter six: Operation Brighton**_

It was night, and as Kate, Kellyn, and Keith approached the base of the Altru Building, they had no need to say anything as they looked up: a classic picture of a sinister tower with dark clouds, thunderstorms, and lightning.

**More importantly: at the top of the tower were three circular barriers surrounding the top of the tower above. With a yellow barrier at the fringe, the thick blue barrier near the core, and the red barrier sandwiched between the two. As long as those barriers remained there, getting closer to the pinnacle of Altru Tower from the outside was **_**impossible**_**.**

What bothered Keith a little was _not _that Altru Tower, Altru Building's high counterpart, wasn't appealing, but that Grotle and Kirlia wouldn't stop following them!

"Buizel, leave them alone," Keith dully said to his Partner, who was curious about Grotle and Kirlia's presence. "They won't leave Kellyn for a _long _time, since they've gotten some sort of loyalty between them anyway."

In reality, that wasn't completely true. True, Kate agreed that Grotle and Kirlia were somewhat loyal to Kellyn. But, from Kate's many experiences beside Kellyn and his Pokémon, she could detect that Kellyn had developed something of an emotional attachment to them…

That didn't seem right for a Ranger. At. All.

Then again, didn't their Stylers provide the same point for conveying feelings of friendship? Perhaps, Kate wondered, maybe the friendship between Grotle, Kirlia, and Kellyn became somewhat much deeper.

Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia had stuck with Kellyn for most of his journey. Beginning from Vientown, where he met Pachirisu, to Vien Forest, where Kellyn first met Grotle, to the Chroma Ruins where he brought Kirlia out of a virtual grave. Now, it all led to the all-menacing-in-appearance tower.

"When we get in there," Kate said, "the campaign officially starts."

Already, when the three Rangers approached the front entrance of the tower, a crowd had amassed outside the foyer. They were, all of them, innocent and unsuspecting workers for Altru Incorporated. When Keith got closer to the crowd, he could hear an angry uproar from them. A commotion, of course…

"Hey! You in the full-body leotards! Open the doors!"

Grotle edged for a closer look ahead of the Rangers, and could see that the cause of the commotion was an admin from Team Dim Sun, who unsurprisingly was blocking the front doors granting entry into the building.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?!" an employee yelled. "We all have RIGHTS! The company can't just fire us without an advance warning, and without a reason!"

"Don't treat us workers like we're disposable!" another employee yelled. "We rightfully demand an explanation for why we're being fired!"

"Is Altru giving us the boot now?!" a third employee roared. "Let – us – in! Let – us – in!"

The crowd began to join the chant.

"LET – US – IN! LET – US –IN! LET – US – IN!"

Extra jeering and shouting followed by the additional employees. In such a circumstance it would have been the appropriate situation to initiate a riot in front of the building, but the people gathered in front were civilised, and commotion was contained by the admin and his Pokémon anyway.

Keith and Kate were first to arrive on the scene, whereas Kellyn…

"Come on, Kirlia, we have to go in there," he coaxed with his Friend Pokémon. "I don't like it either, but hey, it's all part of the operation. I could release you, but you'd have to go back to the ruins. Be like Grotle! He's brave, so… you should too."

Kirlia accepted the invite. No way was she going back there.

By the time Kellyn and his Pokémon were on-scene, Keith attempted to barge his way through the front door, but was held in check by the admin.

"No admittance without authorization," the admin's voice was full of rejection. "Don't make me laugh, there are no Rangers we know of that have clearance to enter these premises. I suggest you leave now, or I will have to start to make things nasty."

He brought out his Miniremo to initiate a direct assault on the Rangers. Thinking of safety first, Keith and Kellyn, assisted by Grotle and Kirlia, cleared the civilians and employees to safety while Kate dealt with the monstrous Yanmega.

"Capture on!" she blasted her Styler away.

* * *

But as one of the elite Top Rangers and holding a wealth of experience not unlike Kellyn, Kate dove into her capture, and jumped once in a while to avoid hurling sticky blobs and Sonicbooms from the hostile Pokémon. However, at least half the time the attacks would go in the direction of the public. If not for Keith and Kellyn escorting them away, the public would have been harmed.

Utilizing charge capturing, Kate managed to achieve a considerable amount of capturing done as confirmed by the gauge on her Styler. With Pachirisu's help, the capture was completed. The admin's Miniremo, like many Miniremos before it, blew up and the respective Pokémon was released.

"Meddlesome Rangers!" he shouted in disarray, and retreated into the Altru building.

Kellyn, Kate, and Keith took into account of what happened.

"What are we waiting for?!" Kellyn said to his co-worker and his old classmate. "Charge!"

The three Rangers, rallied by Kellyn, stormed into the building, with their Pokémon right behind them, to finally execute Operation Brighton.

* * *

One would expect the three Rangers to charge in drama-style. But sadly, the three Rangers walked into the building as if they were on a regular walk through the Union Road: a quiet stroll in and through.

_Eh…? There's no one here,_ Kellyn thought, as he, Kate, and Keith walked further into the foyer. True, there was no one there. Only several showcases, a front desk, a purple carpet, and three portraits of the wall decorated the foyer. Oh, and handsome lighting as well.

"_It's a trap!_" Kate whispered, as she turned around, which prompted Kellyn and Keith to turn around as well.

Two Dim Sun goons were pushing two barricades in front of the door!

"There we go! That ought to do it!" one said.

"That ought to keep law-abiding employees and citizens out of here and annoying Rangers too," added the other. They laughed.

In truth, none of the Rangers were offended at the mention of 'annoying' Rangers. But Kellyn clenched his teeth at the mention of keeping out 'law-abiding' employees, which not only confirmed that Team Dim Sun was indeed a criminal organization, but also that Team Dim Sun had no respect for the law and the common good. Grotle shared the same thoughts and prepared to march toward them, but Kellyn hastily grabbed the grove Pokémon by the shell and restrained the Pokémon from taking unnecessary action. Hopefully, the former action was quiet enough.

It wasn't.

The Dim Sun goons stared at the Rangers with shocked faces. They turned around to look at their newly-raised barricade, turned to look at the Rangers again, and began to sweat.

"What?! What are the Rangers doing here?!" one goon panicked.

"Run away!" said the other.

They wanted to run outside, but the two barricades completely blocking the sliding doors were too high to climb over, and they were also too heavy to push down.

"The barricades are blocking the way!" one goon cried.

"I _told_ you to get the job done faster, but _nooooo! _So now what do we do?"

Kellyn motioned his two fellow Rangers to move. They could take advantage of the goons' confusion to take the opportunity to quietly slip away.

Keith was usually the loudmouth for as long as Kate and Kellyn could remember, but to the latter two it was a surprise that Keith didn't say too much. Then again, they were in complete hostile territory with a weapon of capable mental mass destruction just above their heads. If they talked much, their cover and very much the operation's would be blown. Worse was that the plan could fail.

But unfortunately, despite Keith's silence, that was already taken care of.

"We knew you were coming, Rangers!" a voice bellowed ahead, and the three Rangers grinded to a halt. Standing near the elevator was a minion of Team Dim Sun. She turned around and pressed a button beside the elevator.

It was not to activate the elevator, but rather to activate an alarm.

_**The sound of a loud alarm echoed through the entire building, and red lights were flashing in various places in Altru Tower, if not the entire tower itself.**_

_Oh dear,_ Kellyn thought.

But fortunately the alarm ringing and flashing the red lights didn't last long. Nevertheless, the damage was already done, and shortly after a Dim Sun admin stepped out of the elevator.

"Can anyone here kindly explain how Rangers could get this far?" she said sarcastically.

As Kellyn and Kate expected, Keith the loudmouth spoke out before they could even get a chance to talk. It was like Keith could do all the talking for them, but neither Kate nor Kellyn wanted Keith to speak on their behalf! It. Was. Not. Fair.

"You're not getting away with anything!" Keith said headstrongly, although a team of six Dim Sun members gathered around the three Rangers.

"Eww…" the admin made a disgusted face, "you're so pushy and primitive! Make them go away, minions! I would rather spend my time eating dinner than dealing with the words of these three."

Two of the Team Dim Sun goons stepped forward and brought out their Miniremos.

"Your epic adventure ends here, Rangers!" they shouted.

Kate and Kellyn simultaneously shot Keith a repulsive death glare, and they reached for their Fine Stylers.

"You're not capturing this time, Keith," Kellyn resentfully murmured.

Keith shrugged and backed away, only to trip over Grotle and land in Kirlia's arms.

"Oof!" Keith gasped, but his face changed to one of gratitude. "Ah… thank you, Kirlia."

Kirlia gently laid Keith on the ground, bowed her head down, and then stood to watch Kate and Kellyn perform their captures.

_Even if Kellyn and Kate may resent my behaviour and my loud mouth_, Keith thought, _at least Kirlia has a gentle heart, and Grotle, too. I guess that must be why Kellyn's so attached to them._

The two Pokémon that appeared to attack the Rangers were a Wheezing and a Skuntank. Emerging battle-hardened from their previous encounters with legendary Pokémon and coming across many more Pokémon, Kellyn and Kate each picked a Pokémon they both wanted to capture and reduced the capturing time by at least half.

* * *

For the many things that followed, including an ambush by an admin on the elevator ride up, maneuvering through the elevator mechanical room, disabling security gates, jumping down a garbage disposal room (Grotle had some difficulty squeezing through the vent duct above the garbage pile, so the grove Pokémon decided to physically wreck the duct), and encountering countless amounts of attacking Pokémon from Team Dim Sun, they got past a difficult Dim Sun guard guarding a room.

It turned out the room contained the missing Yellow Gem!

"Finally," Kate groaned, "after all that effort trying to capture Cresselia and only to surrender it to Heath, we got it back."

"Now we have everything we need to execute Operation Brighton!" Keith cheered.

"Eh…?" Kellyn said, seeing the nearby researchers quickly approach them. "What do you guys want?"

With experience running into countless enemies in the building, the three Rangers readied their Stylers for another expected assault of Miniremos.

Surprisingly, there was no attack, let alone raising the alarm.

"Rangers!" a researcher pleaded. "Please rescue Professor Isaac!"

"And why would we do that?" Kate raised her eyebrows, but was reprimanded by Keith and Kellyn with uncomfortable stares. "I mean, what happened?"

"His sister Melody," the researcher started, "do you know her? She's being held hostage. They, the Dim Sun goons, are threatening her with harm to make Professor Isaac comply with demands. He – he's being forced to make adjustments and installations to the tower's software!"

Kellyn said, "That's good to hear, but first I have a few questions. Where should Isaac be? Why are you helping us?"

The other researcher cleared his throat before speaking. "He should be held at the tenth level. Also, we researchers are just humble civilians where we try to make a living, and serve Almia's energy needs. We love science, and Isaac is the brightest and youngest of scientists we know around here!"

A moment of silence followed, with the latter researcher's eyes full of realisation.

"Oh, sorry! I have to unlock the door for you!" he walked away to activate a few switches. "Now let's see… the lock should be disengaged at this point. You should check it out. You should be able to get to the tenth floor now."

And outside of the room, the door leading to the ninth floor had a scary-looking electric field preventing anyone, or anything, from passing. The electric field's systems soon went offline, which could finally allow entry to the floor above.

The Rangers' attention was distracted by the first researcher again, who confessed, "We got too caught up in our own research to notice what we were actually doing. We looking, but not seeing. I failed to see what our research here was actually being used for… it's far too late for regrets, but…"

"It's not your fault," Kellyn reassured him, "only those few people like us Rangers who actually dug deep into what was really happening could see the truth beneath. Honestly speaking, it took a several weeks-long investigation to know what was going on!"

The three Rangers approached a particular door after climbing to the tenth floor…

* * *

"What are you doing?!" a familiar voice cried.

"Isaac?" Kellyn and Kate said together.

"That was Isaac's voice!" Keith exclaimed, apparently not hearing his friends. Being a loudmouth again and not letting either Kate or Kellyn speak, he said, "Isaac! We've come for you!"

The outcry from behind the door instantly became a joyful voice with hope. "Keith? Kate? Kellyn? Help!"

But a rough voice came from behind the door following Isaac's. "Don't you care about your cute little sister, you? Make haste, hurry up and finish the software's installation and adjustment. This will make it a total success for Altru's birthday, and I personally will make it less painful for you."

Without a doubt, those were words of blackmail.

"GROTLE! KIRLIA!" Kellyn yelled, ordering them whilst rallying up and his Pokémon.

Grotle and Kirlia knew what the situation was without need for explanation. Kate and Keith, like Kellyn, were angered by this act of injustice.

Together, the three Rangers, Grotle, and Kirlia rushed to force the door.

SMASH. One time didn't work.

SMASH. The second time, the team was starting to sweat.

SMASH. Third time, they were starting to get desperate, and they gave up.

"Okay, there's no way we can force this door down ourselves," Kellyn analysed. "It won't even open. Hey, what if Grotle –"

Kate put a hand on Kellyn's shoulder, shaking her head, "I highly doubt a Target Clear will do the trick. This is a fully reinforced door, so I don't think it possible unless we had a _lot_ of firepower."

"Great," Keith said sarcastically, "what am I supposed to do now?"

"I?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, I?!" Kate and Kellyn roared, while shooting another pair of repulsive death glares. Keith was taken aback.

"Remember, Keith, although we're friends," Kellyn started, "as Rangers we're still a cooperative team. There is no '_I_' in most cases unless you're on your own, and on your own Mission."

"Let's be honest here," Kate spoke as she began to cross her arms, "you're too self-centered at times. Start thinking of us for a change."

Keith had an expression of shock for facing rebuking blows to his pride from his friends, but he hung his head and kept quiet. Kellyn and Kate, on the other hand, couldn't tell if they felt better or worse after that, but it had to be done.

Or did it?

The awkward air was broken by the sound of a voicemail.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Barlow," said their Leader. "We've arrested all the Dim Suns on the ground floor here, and we're escorting them to Pueltown to lay the troubles to rest. If you do need anything from me, now would be the time."

Keith's eyes lit up, and looked 'smartly' at Kellyn and Kate.

"I have an idea…" he started. Looking at the reinforced door (Kate and Kellyn followed his gaze), he said, "It's probably the quickest and the easiest way possible…"

Kate and Kellyn realised what Keith meant.

"I'll get in touch with Barlow!" Keith was pleased.

* * *

Meanwhile at the lobby and foyer of Altru Tower, Barlow, Crawford, and Luana were overseeing an escort of an entire division of Dim Sun minions through the front door (the barricades removed, obviously). They (the minions) were marching in single file, and every one of them was either handcuffed or tied up.

"Don't talk too much, guys," Crawford instructed.

Barlow stationed himself at the back, as he saw the remaining line of Dim Sun goons pass through the foyer. A calling tune sounded from his Styler.

"Eh? A voicemail! Who's there?" Barlow held up his Styler and flipped through the contents.

"Yo! Barlow!" said Keith's voice.

"Oh, good afternoon Keith," Barlow lightly replied.

"Sorry, to call you right away," Keith apologised. "Barlow, we – uh – would like to borrow a bit of your power."

Now, there were several thoughts that raced through Barlow's head. One, the three Rangers above didn't have enough manpower to complete an objective, or maybe even some sort of obstruction. But, usually, when it came to power to move things or lifting up massive objects, Barlow was not the one to call, and he knew that.

"Power? If you want something heavy carried, you want Big Bertha," Barlow acknowledged he had no tolerance for weightlifting. "Is that what you mean?"

"No! Barlow! No!" Kellyn shouted.

_Eh? So Kellyn wants to talk to,_ Barlow thought, and as he thought another thought crossed his mind. Well, it made sense to him.

"Or… do you mean my trademark Field Move?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, that's the one! We're close to Isaac, in fact we're right beside him, but we can't reach him at this point," Keith reported.

Barlow's face lit up.

"Gotcha, Keith, I'm on my way. But first, where are you exactly?"

Although Barlow couldn't see them, he could tell from the silence that they had no idea. In fact, if Barlow had his Styler to his ear, he could have heard Kate commanding Kellyn to take a look around for the floor number, with Grotle to follow her.

"It's the tenth floor, Barlow," Kate said after a while later.

"Roger," Barlow said, then shutting off the voicemail.

Turning to Crawford, first by getting his attention, Barlow ordered, "Crawford! I've got a little errand to run upstairs. You will be in charge for the time being until I'm back."

"Roger that, Leader," Crawford complied as he saw the Ranger Leader march towards the elevator.

* * *

Kate and Kellyn looked at Keith, who was all smiles.

"We're in business!" Keith cheered.

The Rangers waited patiently for their Leader to appear. They strained their ears to hear any sound of approaching footsteps, but nothing came… yet.

"Knowing Barlow," Keith kept his eyes in the distance, that is, a corridor, "he'll probably be here in about five seconds."

So Kate counted.

1…

2…

3…

4…

5!

"Kate! Kellyn! Keith!" a voice called.

_He nailed it_, Kate and Kellyn grudgingly thought, not wanting to admit that Keith was a genius. As Keith had correctly predicted, Barlow _did_ come to the tenth floor, and he took the same route as the group had used before: including a rush up the stairs.

In moments, their Leader had arrived before them.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting!" he said, and was not at all exhausted.

"No sweat," Kate replied.

"We didn't wait at all!" Keith added.

Barlow smiled and looked over their shoulders. "Ah, is that the door I see over there? I'll go take a look at it."

Grotle and Kirlia were the first to get out of the way, followed by the Rangers, to allow Barlow to look at the reinforced door. He first began to check it by pushing at the door, then quietly knocking on it, and then taking a look at the hinges and frames around it.

"Hmm…" he said approvingly, "that's quite the door alright, that's for sure. Well, you and I have got to hand it to them. Altru does know how to get things done the right way."

Kate and Kellyn watched as Barlow moved several paces back and prepare for his move.

"Target Clear!" Barlow shouted and lunged forward.

KABOOM

A violent tremor shook the walls, but it did nothing to the door. Surprisingly, to Kate, Kellyn, and Keith, Barlow only retreated wearing a smile and nodding.

"If this door were the enemy, I _would_ have shaken hands with it for being so tough, guaranteed," Barlow remarked. "Okay. Kate! Kellyn! Keith! I'll need you to help me on this one!"

"Can our Pokémon help too?" Kellyn said abruptly.

Barlow chuckled, "The more manpower, the better!"

Kellyn motioned for Grotle and Kirlia to follow him to where Kate, Keith, and Barlow were standing. There wasn't much need for explanation as the two Pokémon had heard the entire conversation with their very ears. Once everyone was gathered, Barlow turned his attention to his group once more.

"Ready?" he asked, waiting to see when they could storm.

With a unanimous 'yes', Barlow prepared for action.

They all stepped back several paces. Barlow and Grotle took the front, Kellyn and Kirlia took one side, and Kate and Keith took the other. It appeared that everyone was rallying themselves.

"TARGET…" Barlow called in a loud voice…

Silence.

"GROWAAAH!" Barlow roared.

A sudden rush swept.

CRUUUUUUNNNNNCCCCCCHHHHHHH!

* * *

"This is a raid!" Kellyn yelled into the room full of larger-than-life computers.

Keith led the group to face the Dim Sun minions. "Freeze, you Dim Sun goons!"

"Keith! Kellyn! Kate!" Isaac shouted in relief.

The Dim Sun admin, with a Miniremo active and an Alakazam by his side, wasn't so relieved. "We're billing the Union for breaking down that door over there. You're too late, anyway. And just by a half a minute, too."

Kate's confident face flushed. "Wha – what do you mean by that?!"

The other admin threw her head back and laughed. "Your _friend_ Isaac just completed the final adjustment and installation with regards to the Incredible Machine. That reminds me, good job for tweaking that system a bit, Isaac. You know what that means, eh? Your uses have now been exhausted and you're of no use to us anymore. You are a boy genius!"

Isaac's little sister looked at her brother in shock. "Isaac!"

"Melody…" Isaac murmured with a tear rolling down his cheek.

The initial admin laughed. "That goes for you gate crashers too! Your end is just beginning!"

With a use of his Miniremo, three Pokémon attacked the Rangers. The Alakazam, a Sceptile, and a Luxray were the kind of team that made their assault on the four Rangers.

"Kate! Take the Sceptile!" Kellyn ordered in accordance to Partner Pokémon advantages and disadvantages. "Keith, capture the Alakazam!"

His friends obeyed without question and prepared to launch their Capture Discs. That left Kellyn with the Luxray. The three lifted up their Styler arms and aimed.

"Capture… on!" they shouted together.

As the aggressive capturing took place and the Dim Sun admin busily, Grotle and Kirlia moved on to give Isaac and Melody some means of safe passage to where the Rangers were standing. They knew that Kellyn couldn't bear to use their abilities, nor did they want to be released back into the wild with a potentially destructive dark supremacy above their heads.

Keith utilized his Buizel to slow down Alakazam's consistent teleporting as he attempted quick capturing. Luxray proved to be a major hazard to Kellyn with Thunderbolts flying everywhere, and Kate… well, she was too quick for the Sceptile when she got her Pachirisu to help her. Although Pachirisu had little effectiveness against Sceptile, it was enough.

She went to help Kellyn first, seeing that he had a disadvantage, and after that the duo helped out Keith with Alakazam.

So, the admins fled.

Only to be met at the door with Barlow and within moments he had them all arrested.

"Whoa! Hold on!" he chuckled. "We're nowhere close to the end. The drama's only just begun!"

Kate, Kellyn, and Keith meanwhile saw to Melody and Isaac, where Grotle and Kirlia stepped aside to rejoin Kellyn.

"Isaac!" Melody shouted.

"Melody…" Isaac muttered, "Barlow… Kellyn… Kate… Keith… I completed that wicked program."

He burst into tears, with Melody only to hug her brother comfortingly, and Isaac hugged her sibling back in remorse.

"Save it," Keith the loudmouth shot, with Kate and Kellyn shooting Keith a glare, "we don't care. All that matters is that you and Melody are safe and sound. That's what matters to us. We Rangers can handle this inside and out!"

"Come on, Keith, give them some space," Kellyn interjected.

"Yeah, Keith!" Kate added. "This is a _family_ moment. Don't ruin it now!"

She turned to Isaac, "But he's right, you know. It's no time for regrets. Kellyn, Keith, and I can handle it from here. We're going to continue Operation Brighton."

Encouraged by Kate's straightforward words, Isaac let go of his sister with a stronger face. "In that case, I'll join you. I know this tower very well, and I also know about specified software that requires codes to decrypt and destroy a barrier, so I suppose…"

Barlow walked up from behind the Rangers. "It's settled, then! It's only because of Isaac that this operation came together. In every right, he should be able to see this operation through to the very end. I will escort Melody to Pueltown along with these Dim Sun clowns (I'll admit it's going to be a drag, but whatever). Therefore the success of the operation is in your hands! Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!" Kate, Kellyn, Keith, and Isaac shouted.

Melody walked over to Barlow, innocently thanking the Rangers along the way, and followed the Area Ranger Leader out of the room along with the arrested Dim Sun admins.

"Isaac!" Melody called. "When this is all over, spend lots of time with me! Promise?"

"Promise," Isaac said with a smile, and his little sister was pleased as punch.

With the remaining Dim Sun admins escorted out with Barlow, Kellyn and Kate returned to business.

* * *

Many, many, more captures followed after the rescue of Isaac. Isaac, Keith, Kate, and Kellyn fell into a trap when six Dim Sun members attacked them from two ends, with three on each side. However, their Pokémon of choice were Skorupi and Brozor respectively, which was nothing of a challenge for the three experienced Rangers, of two who were Rank 9 Rangers (what was Keith's, anyway? No one knows for sure…).

As they progressed, they also ran into three Bellossom, three Cacturne, a Vaporeon, a Jolteon, and a Flareon: all part of a trap assembled by seven Dim Sun members. With effective dodging, plus a smart teleporting move by Kirlia's teleporting skills to avoid a hazardous Leaf Storm, the Dim Sun members were once again outmatched by the superior capturing of the three experienced Rangers.

So, as the captures were completed, Isaac disabled an electric field guarding the door behind them. The Rangers marched on to their next destination and closer to the top of the tower. But they were running out of time.

* * *

Now, the quartet reached a clearing outside: an exterior floor, but it wasn't the top floor. Nevertheless it still counted as the roof. There was a very large cylindrical pillar in the middle of the clearing, and it had sliding doors in front of it.

Keith brought his Styler a foot from his face. "I'll update Professor Hastings."

"_Right_," Kate and Kellyn said in unison, and waited for the transmission to get through.

Later, the unmistakable ringing of a traditional and classic Styler rang out from Keith's Styler.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Hastings! Hastings, I say!" the Pokémon professor shouted quickly. "I've just received word from Barlow. Good job, all of you! Excellent work! So what is the situation with you now?"

"Professor, Kate and Kellyn have retrieved the Yellow Gem," Keith reported. "Is there any service I could do now?"

The response was automatic. "Keith, I'm having a Staraptor sent to you now ("He's _that_ quick?!" both Kate and Kellyn said, surprised). Ride it, carrying the Yellow Gem, and rendezvous with Sven and Wendy, who are also overhead on standby!"

That being said, after the voicemail was finished, and a Staraptor descending upon them, Kate handed over the crescent-shaped gem over to Keith.

"It's nice of you to credit us, for once," Kellyn said. "Thank you, Keith."

Keith nodded and got onto the Staraptor. "What is this feeling…? I'm, like, excited beyond words!"

Then the moment was broken, with Lavana of the Sinis Trio popping out of the pillar, and she had a Magmortar to accompany her.

"How about thrilling beyond words?!" she glared with fiery eyes. "Hit it!"

The Magmortar paced itself, and before Kate or Kellyn had time to raise their Stylers, the Magmortar lunged a violent charge in the two Rangers' direction.

"Watch out!" Keith yelled, and with that Starator he was resting on, he flew and shoved Kate and Kellyn to the ground.

CRAAAAAAAAAACK

Keith was sent flying far, far away on his Staraptor.

"KEITH!" Kate and Kellyn screamed, astounded and shocked.

The Yellow Gem fell back on the floor and bounced. Lavana quietly walked over to it and picked it up, with an evil grin. She looked at the Rangers' shocked faces.

"The Yellow Gem…" she said, "we'll have it back, thank you very much."

**A loud rumbling shook the tower.**

"Eh? The Incredible Machine's started up already?" Lavana looked up, puzzled, and then she turned around to look at her admins. "Oh, right, I get it. It's designed to creep up to 100%. It's going to reach that state once the clock and date reaches midnight. I'm leaving to go back to the barrier control room. You can clean up this mess, girls, and don't embarrass me again."

"Thank you for trusting us, Lady Lavana!" said the two auburn-haired girls of the Crimson Unit as their leader and her Magmortar retreated into the room.

The two girls brought out their Miniremos. "This time, there will be no failure! If we blow this, the Crimson Unit will be disbanded in disgrace!"

_Which it will_, Kate thought, getting to her feet and helping Kellyn up, and still angry about the fatal blow dealt to Keith.

A Scizor and a Gardevoir landed from above. Kellyn nodded to Kate, who simultaneously raised her Fine Styler. Kellyn followed suit.

"Capture on!"

* * *

Kirlia, having connections with other Gardevoir in her personal traits, couldn't felt uncomfortable with such a sight. However, a Scizor was more dangerous to her than the Gardevoir, so Kellyn and Pachirisu went straight to capturing Gardevoir. Kate, trying to avoid fatal blows from the Scizor, leapt from place to place to avoid cutting encounters.

Gardevoir kept teleporting for the most part, which wasn't much of a threat as opposed to the Scizor. Kellyn, an elite Ranger, skillfully brought the Capture Disc to both level and mid-air positions to avoid a blow to the Capture Line, while avoiding a dive from the Scizor.

"Poké Assist Electric! Pachirisu, help me out!"

Long story short, the twosome with their Pachirisu's captured the two Pokémon independently and released them ("Capture complete!"). The sound of exploding Miniremos joined the mess.

* * *

**Operation Brighton WILL be continued...**


	7. The Vatonage Styler

**I wonder... if the same Eeveeleah who reviewed as a guest is the same Eeveeleah who posted reviews before, but that's beside the point.**

**This chapter will continue to focus on "Execute Operation Brighton!". Indeed, this may as well be a series on the Mission as previously mentioned in the summary.**

* * *

_**Chapter seven: The Vatonage Styler**_

"I think I've found a new hero…" one of the girls started to walk to the stairs, but keeping a focused eye on Kellyn.

"The Rangers are… kind of cool," the other girl said, following the former to the stairs too, but not before casually giving Kellyn a wink.

Kellyn was flustered. Kate noticed this and gave him a hard nudge with her elbow.

"Ow!" he cried.

"_Focus…_" she hissed.

But they were interrupted by an uncomforting dark aura. They couldn't see it, but they could feel it in their minds, in the air, and in their hearts.

Kellyn brought his Fine Styler to his face, and made a quick contact to Professor Hastings.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! Hastings here!" Professor Hastings said. "What is it, Kellyn?"

"It's Keith…" Kellyn started, "he got blasted off the roof!"

"What?!" Hastings asked, as if he didn't hear that right. "Keith? Blown off the roof? We'll dispatch Rangers to search for him right away! As for you, Kellyn and Kate, you must keep going up!"

"Roger."

Kellyn was just about to turn off his voicemail when Hastings excitedly and hastily said, "Wait! Wait! Kellyn! Don't hang up yet! I've got very good news! Our research and science team of Vatona and Nage have made a breakthrough!"

Kate leaned in onto Kellyn's Styler to hear the news in anticipation.

"They've completed the Styler program that makes the impossible possible!" Hastings shouted in quick and joyous words. "They've named it the Incredible Program, and indeed, that's exactly what it is!"

"Elaborate, please," Kate requested.

"Of course, Kate! This program is designed to work with the three Tears of Princes taken from the pendants," Hastings explained. "If you recall, Kellyn, those coloured stones were fitted into your Styler. We'll send the Incredible Program to update your Fine Styler in a minute. It will hereby transform your Styler into the world's one and only Vatonage Styler! Using it, you will finally be able to capture even those Pokémon under enemy control!"

Kate's face fell into a sulk. Why does Kellyn always get the good stuff? But Hastings seemed to have detected that feeling.

"I understand how you feel, Kate," Hastings said comfortingly. "I apologise that you may be left out of this grand undertaking. Nevertheless! Vatona and Nage have utilized all of our resources, and exhausted ALL of them, come to that, in an attempt to replicate the Incredible Program. Mainly, it was to be sure the Incredible Program wasn't flawed. Now, they have managed to synthesize a lesser duplicate of the original program called Program VN. Using it, it will transform into your Fine Styler into the Vatonage Styler's younger brother: the Fine Styler Type-VN, or if you like, the Vatonage Fine Styler!"

Kate gave a sigh of relief, and Kellyn chucked.

"Now, Kellyn and Kate, you might know this already," Hastings said. "There is an ancient word in Almia that means "to rekindle the light that has sunk in darkness and restore harmony to the world." The word in question: is vatonage."

Kate looked at her co-worker, who nodded back.

"It is a word barely remembered even by the old men and women in Almia," Hastings continued. "But now, the word has now been reborn as the names of your new Stylers! Now enough talk, let's send the Incredible Program and its younger sibling to your Stylers, with it goes our compliments and commitments to the Rangers for all their courage!"

Kate took into account that this wasn't just Kellyn's Styler that was being dealt with and looked at her own. Like Kellyn's Styler, the same words read 'receiving data…'

Officially the Incredible Program on Kellyn's Styler and the VN Program on Kate's were downloaded and successfully installed. Now, their Fine Stylers were upgraded to the Vatonage Styler and the Vatonage Fine Styler respectively. A surge of new power literally vibrated through their Stylers as the programs finished installing, and with that vibrating power Kellyn and Kate felt a sense of renewed and refreshed purpose.

Obviously the vibrating stopped after the installation. Otherwise it would be a sure irritant when it came to the captures to come!

* * *

Spearheaded by Kate, the group approached the entrance to Altru Tower at last. With their new Vatonage Stylers, they marched into the elevator and rose to the level above. It was a good thing that they had their Vatonage Stylers too, because the moment the stepped out they could sense the dark aura stronger than ever, and the Magneton they spotted was under direct control from the Incredible Machine. No way would a Capture Styler let alone a Fine Styler would be able to capture it at this point.

Upon disembarking with Grotle and Kirlia, Kellyn received a voicemail from Sven.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! Sven here," said the Top Ranger. "You're in the tower?"

"That's correct," Kellyn confirmed.

"Impatience breeds mistakes, so be careful," Sven advised.

Kellyn thanked, "We will Sven. Take care."

And just when Kellyn thought he had finished, another voicemail instantaneously followed the one from Sven. Kellyn groaned and opened the voicemail channel again.

"Voicemail! This is Wendy."

"Hello, Wendy," Kellyn greeted. "Anything to report?"

"Unfortunately," Wendy said, "yes. According to the tower blueprints, the barrier preventing us from getting closer has three separate layers. Apparently, from the outside, they appear to be controlled from a separate floor, with each one rising in level respectively."

Kellyn switched off the voicemail, and Isaac sighed.

"Wendy's got it spot on," he said. "There really are three barrier-control floors right above us. I didn't design the barrier system, but at least I know how most of the system is set up."

"Okay, so how do we shut down the barrier?" Kate asked.

A long moment of silence stood between the Rangers and Isaac. Kate and Kellyn knew that Isaac would be searching a dozen relevant memories stored in his head, considering and tossing out each thought in a matter of seconds until he found the right one, and then he would do a quick extensive overview of the right memory and would prepare all the necessary details to be spoken out. The two Rangers had never met someone, particularly a former classmate, with such an analytical mind.

"On each floor," Isaac explained, "there is a Circuit Ball that provides power for a barrier layer. There's just only one problem, or rather, three. Each Circuit Ball is guarded by Altru's troublesome executives. You probably already know and have met them already: the Sinis Trio."

"Wonderful," Kellyn said sarcastically. "So we'll need to tear through each level and continue upstairs, whilst encountering a possible attack from each member of the Sinis Trio. Why can't we just fly to the top or scale the side?"

Kate rolled her eyes before gently poking Kellyn on the forehead. "Remember that Wendy and Sven depend on us, and it's far too late for them to land and bring up the gems with them. Come on, Kellyn, hurry up!"

Right when Kellyn, Kate, Isaac, Grotle, and Kirlia made the march to the first level of stairs, a rumble not unlike the one from before shook the entire building.

_What. Now?! _Kate thought.

A loudspeaker bellowed through the tower above and below. "THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1. POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS… 50%. I REPEAT. 50%. POWER IS RISING STEADILY. THERE ARE NO ABNORMALITIES."

"Aww, no. We're running out of time!" Isaac panicked. "The Incredible Machine has three power levels, one through three. It's going to be level 2 soon. At level 3… that'd be it. Almia's going to be in some serious trouble, no doubt."

"Oh, dear," Kellyn muttered. "We have to move. NOW!"

* * *

At the next level, the styling was for sure in the same cylindrical tower, and it would stay that way. It only made sense, as this was a _tower_ in every single right. Directly opposite of the stairs Kate had just gotten out of was another flight of stairs heading upward, but…

"There's a gate in the way," Kate stated, staring at the fence of electric bolts guarding the stairs in a terrifying way. "Is there any way to get rid of it?"

"There is," Isaac said. "However, the beam system won't turn off even when I get close… and usually I have security clearance. Since the system isn't recognising me, it appears we're going to have to stop this thing ourselves. As I mentioned about the Circuit Balls, the Circuit Ball for this system must be destroyed for us to keep going up."

With only the center circular room to enter, and Isaac giving quick facts that the control room contained commands for the 'yellow' barrier, Kate and Kellyn could only presuppose that the Circuit Ball had to be in there, so they barged right into it.

"Heath, who wears yellow outfits, should be in charge here," Isaac warned.

Sure enough, Kellyn and Kate, with some help from Grotle and Kirlia, raided the room, and they found Heath waiting for them.

* * *

"I am hearing someone coming in…" Heath growled, with his back turned to the Rangers. "But I am not smelling someone bad. They are not our people. I can telling. You thinking so too, my cute Rhyperior?"

He turned around, and his face was aghast at the sight of two impossibly familiar Rangers.

"You Ranger! Again, you coming?!" Heath's face was displeased. "Even you bringing Professor Isaac, the traitor. You two coming in to turning off barrier system, you are?"

"Right you are, Heath," Kellyn faced him with an even more confident face than the one in Hippowdon Temple. "Just wait until we destroy that thing behind you, and you have no bargaining chip with you this time to stop us!"

As expected, Heath was adamant.

"Breaking this Circuit Ball is what you're intentioning on doing?"

Kate laughed. Hard. Intentioning?! What kind of a word was that?

Her laugh was short-lived, as Heath walked up to them with a face of aggression. "No. Cannot let you doing that. I saying no. Allowing not so!"

Kate knew what was happening next, but before she could lift up her Styler arm Kellyn stood in front of her with his arm spread.

"This is between me and him," Kellyn angrily muttered. "Stay out of this, please."

Kate gave a frustrated grunt and backed away while watching Kellyn face the giant Rhyperior before his eyes. Lifting his Vatonage Styler, he put it to work.

"Capture… on!"

A surprising burst of completely new power erupted from the Styler.

* * *

Kellyn was very busy trying hard to capture the Rhyperior. He even had to do some aerobatics in the process to avoid the attacks from Rhyperior, such as Rock Throws, waves of rock in the ground, and Rock Slides (the most scariest thing he came across was a Rock Wrecker which had practically destroyed half the room). Since Pachirisu wasn't of use to Kellyn right now, all Kellyn could rely on was pure skill in handling his Capture Disc, and safe dodging. The gauge registered on his Styler was a long one, so it was going to have to take some time.

While Kellyn was busy, Isaac turned to Kate with more instructions.

"Since Heath and Kellyn are so preoccupied with their battle, I think you could spare some time and capture a Pokémon with a level 3 crush out there? When you've captured one, bring it back here," Isaac instructed. "Doing so should save us a _lot_ of time."

"You got it, Isaac," Kate said as she left, and flipped through her Glossary to find a nearby Pokémon that did have the specifics Isaac requested.

Shock waves caused by the immense Rhyperior were more than enough to throw Kellyn off his feet. But never was there one time that Kellyn let go of his Capture Disc, and he continued to keep drawing the Capture Line here and there.

However, the spreading Rock Throws never did make it easy for Kellyn as he kept dodging and taking cover from impeding stones. It seemed like it would never end. A few times, the Capture Line was broken, and the Vatonage Styler suffered extensive damage, but it wasn't enough to break with all the strengthening components all around the Styler.

Even at times where Rhyperior would shoot multiple rocks in the air only to have the fall down, Kellyn rolled in multiple areas.

But one rock sped down toward Kellyn's head, and by the time the Pokémon Ranger looked up it was too late to react…

CRACK

A vine shot and held the rock at bay, Kellyn immediately looked to see that Grotle, _his_ Grotle, had shot a Vine Whip to hold onto the rock.

"Wow! Thanks, Grotle!" Kellyn shouted happily.

Kirlia made frustrated gestures forcing Kellyn to keep capturing on.

…

"Capture complete!"

* * *

"What?" Kate's jaw dropped. "He's done?"

"He finished right as you came in," Isaac said. "Have you brought the crushing Pokémon?"

Kate glanced at the captured/befriended Crobat behind her, and Isaac took that as a 'yes'.

"The Vatonage Fine Styler works like a dream," she commented. "I could manage to capture a Pokémon under dark influence at last! It's… very different now that I can, and it's got a lot of power too!"

Kellyn released the Rhyperior he had captured with his Vatonage Styler with something of the same sense as Kate had with _her_ Styler, although that Kellyn's was the one and only genuine Vatonage Styler.

"Heath, it seems like you've lost again," Kellyn looked up at him, smiling tauntingly.

Heath's eyes burned with anger. "Losing! Again and again! Depressing me, losing is."

_So now you finally know how we feel after that debacle at Hippowdon Temple, and to be fair don't forget about your assault on the Ranger Union!_ Kellyn thought.

"Cannot be showing my face to Boss in this way now," Heath's face relaxed. "Oh, but then, I thinking, my pride gone. But that's alright. More important is the barrier system, not pride for me. Not worrying then! Barrier system is not break easy. But! I also planning ahead when being here with waiting Circuit Ball. I fooling with it, playing with it, and putting on it… a secret thing for a trap."

"Heath," Kellyn interrupted, "you realise you are scaring me. Why are you talking to yourself?"

Heath only just realised that Kellyn, Kate, and Isaac were still standing there, as if he only just saw them arrive through the door.

"No, no! Never mind, I not saying! Bye-bye!" Heath rushed his words and tore off for outside.

Isaac threw his head back in a laugh and went up to the Circuit Ball, with Kate and Kellyn behind him. Giving a know-it-all face, he said, "He probably programmed the Circuit Ball so it can't be hit by a Target Clear. But guess who taught Heath and the other two to program?"

Kate and Kellyn only needed one answer, an identical one said at the Ranger Union earlier.

"You," they said in unison.

"Yep, Heath must have forgotten that," Isaac said, punching a few mechanics and buttons on the Circuit Ball. "And… yep! Trap disengaged in 1.38 seconds precisely. Kate, if you will, you can perform a Target Clear safely on this thing now with that Crobat."

Kellyn's eyes and his Pokémon's eyes shot straight in Kate's direction.

"Since when did you capture a Crobat?!" he asked, surprised.

"Oh, Isaac told me to," Kate answered, readying her Crobat. "It was supposed to promote efficiency while you were capturing away at the Rhyperior."

Kellyn understood that that made sense. Stepping aside, he gestured for Kate to perform the Target Clear as Isaac explained about.

"Crobat! Smash that thing!" she shouted, pointing at the yellow electric Circuit Ball. She didn't appreciate the thought that she would be destroying a device containing so much energy, but then again the entire Almia region was a stake.

The bat-like Pokémon charged toward the massive sphere and, in spite of Crobat's brittle arms and wings, actually managed to apply enough forced to break the Circuit Ball into tons of pieces. When that was over with, Kate released the Pokémon.

At the same time, in the exterior, the electrical menacing barrier coloured yellow faded too.

* * *

"Oh, hey, a voicemail," Kate said, switching to communications on her Styler. "Hello?"

"This is Sven," the Top Ranger said. "Just confirmed the outside layer of the barrier to be gone. Well done, you two! Just two more to go."

Kate looked at Kellyn, then the Pachirisu's, then Grotle, and then finally Kirlia, who all gave looks of motivation.

Indeed, the sinister Altru Tower when looked from the outside had its yellow fringe barrier missing. In that case, there were only the red and blue barriers to go. In addition, the gate which had blocked the Rangers' path to upstairs was disabled now. All they needed to do was follow Isaac to the path upstairs.

* * *

But as they encircled the room above in a clockwise direction to approach the next room with the next Circuit Ball not unlike the one below (they couldn't go counter-clockwise, even though it was a much shorter distance, because the enormous electrical circuits feeding energy outside, connected to the center room, were in the way), another loud rumbling shook the tower. This time, it was a stronger tremor than before.

"THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER," the loudspeaker roared through the building. "THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1. POWER LEVEL NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS… 20%. THERE ARE NO AB… ABNORMALITIES"

Isaac's eyes widened with fear. "This isn't good… the Incredible Machine's system to charging much more rapidly than I anticipated."

Kate led the charge, still walking clockwise, and past the next flight of stairs: guarded by another fence of electricity bolts, but they were coloured a bright red. She captured an Absol without much effort along the way, and approached the next room.

"This is where the red barrier control room is, and the person in charge here is Lavana, the awful woman who adores red," Isaac said, shuddering at the thought of meeting the only female of the Sinis Trio, as if just by listening to the sound of the name was bad enough. "Let's go in."

Expecting the Magmortar they saw earlier, Kellyn instructed Grotle to stand guard outside if anyone came. Kirlia, who had no weakness to fire, stayed alongside Kellyn in case if any need was required of her.

But when they went into the room, they found that the room was unoccupied. Nevertheless, the red Circuit Ball empowering the red barrier outside was still present. Taking absence to be an advantage, Isaac gave out further instructions.

"We lucked out. Let's destroy the Circuit Ball while we're still here… yet we might not have the Pokémon to do so. Kellyn, you capture the Pokémon to destroy this Circuit Ball this time," Isaac said, studying the Circuit Ball and racking his memories for extra information. "It calls for a level 3 soak. So…"

"Don't worry Isaac," Kellyn assured, "I saw a Vaporeon near the tower's base and it might have the firepower. I'll go and capture it right away." The Pokémon Ranger tore off away from the room, with his Pokémon, and downstairs in the search for the suspected existent water Pokémon near the bottom.

So that left Kate and Isaac, in the room with the uncomforting crackling of the Circuit Ball.

However, when Kellyn jumped right out of the room he was nearly sighted by Lavana who, with her malicious Magmortar, seriously walked into the room. Fortunately, he had Kirlia, who teleported him, Grotle, and Pachirisu to the previous flight of stairs in a search for the Vaporeon.

* * *

So for Kate, there no surprise as Lavana and her Magmortar walked into the room.

"Well, hello there," Lavana said hotly. "Sneaking around and avoiding my eye. You all seem to be having fun around here. Sort of like a game of hide-and-go-seek, you know."

She walked closer, and her face changed to and expression of surprise, unlike Kate, when she saw Isaac standing right beside Kate.

"Well, if it isn't my darling computer teacher," she looked at Isaac malevolently. "You've realised your mistakes, and have come to apologise, I expect. And because you're so embarrassed, you've brought along your Ranger friends too."

"You're so predictable, Lavana, that I could rate your intuition right now. I would say… only two out of five, I'm afraid," Isaac countered. "For one, I was never your computer teacher. Two, I'm not going to apologise, not to you anyway. Three, you're fatally mistaken that I'm embarrassed enough to bring along a Ranger friend. But… I won't deny that I'm realised my mistakes, and I won't deny that we _have_ been sneaking around and avoiding your eye."

Lavana's eyes burned. "You're not one for sarcasm, little boy. I _know_ you're here to disable the barrier system, and you're ten years too early. Eh…?"

The member of the Sinis Trio only realised when shifting her gaze to Kate that Kellyn was not there. Nor were his familiar Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia were in their presence. Kate, in turn, made a 'ready' stance.

"So… where's your other Ranger friend?" she directed this at Kate. "He's run away from you now? Is the 'Mission' too hard on his head? He's too concerned for his Pokémon, I bet. In fact, I think he would be concerned about them over you, Kate… "

To add even more fuel to the fire, Lavana saw a little smirk curve at the edge of Kate's lips.

"O-KAY, OUT WITH IT!" she roared. "WHAT IS HE DOING?!"

To add extra explosives to the fire, Kate giggled suspiciously.

"WHERE IS HE?" Lavana yelled. "IF YOU DON'T TELL ME, I PROMISE YOU WILL PERSONALLY SEE HIM BURN! BURN IN THE FLAMES OF MY MAGMORTAR!"

And finally, to make the fire explode in a skyrocketing manner by adding nitroglycerin, Kate laughed _very_ loudly in such a way to mock Lavana. Somehow, Lavana knew that Kate was never going to talk anyway.

"Like I'd ever tell you," Kate brushed her hands clean. "You're exaggerating when you said I would see him burn, by the way."

"ARGH! MAGMORTAR! BURN THE AWARENESS INTO THEIR HEADS!" Lavana opened her Miniremo and her Magmortar lifted its arm. Firing away a Flamethrower. A blazing inferno of flame burned in a straight line in Kate's direction. She jumped out of the way.

But the Magmortar would not stop and charged straight for the vulnerable Isaac. Kate, sensing the danger, charged sideways and knocked Magmortar to the ground before the Pokémon had a hope of touching Isaac. It burned Kate, but her Styler guaranteed such protection at the cost of some energy. Speaking of which, she lifted up her Vatonage Fine Styler and aimed it at Magmortar.

"Capture on!"

And Kate felt the fresh power of the Vatonage Fine Styler burst on her wrist.

* * *

The Capture Disc soared upward in a parabola, where at the top it soared in a downward curve to draw the Capture Line around Magmortar. For Kate though, she was more concerned about her own safety above anything else. The Capture Line being shattered? Fine. But to take on the amount of firepower the Magmortar possessed… when it was causing the ground to explode –

KABOOM

The explosion threw Kate off her feet and on her back with a _thud_.

"Nice try, you," Lavana's eyes continued to burn, "but if you keep this up you're going to be incinerated. Give up!"

Kate slowly got up on one knee instead, and could feel the ground beneath her start to heat up. Wait, didn't that mean something was going to happen…?

Instinctively, the Pokémon Ranger rolled over to one side, and could hear the ground beside her explode upward in a pillar of lava. Kate started to sweat and pointed her fingers in the direction of Magmortar once more, with the Capture Disc trying to swing a Capture Line around the Pokémon.

So far, the friendship gauge on her Styler was filling up well. Kate increased the power with a charge capture, and filled up the gauge even faster. The only times whenever Kate had to stop drawing the Capture Line was whenever Magmortar looked like it was going to fire an attack in _her_ direction or when Magmortar wasn't standing still, whenever it walked right into the Capture Line.

_Don't attack. Don't attack_, Kate hoped, still spinning the Capture Disc around Magmortar.

She spoke too soon.

The Magmortar raised its arms, both of them, and began swinging them sideways left to right and back and firing a Flamethrower. Eventually, the entire floor started to engulf in flames. Kate, with her back to the Circuit Ball, started to back towards it, with Isaac backing as well.

"The Circuit Ball needs to be soaked to be destroyed," Isaac said. "If the fire were to touch it, it wouldn't be destroyed, meaning Lavana can fire at us all she wants. On the other hand, we can use it as a shield."

"Then you take cover while I keep the capture going," Kate replied, still aware of the impeding waves of fire coming at her. At the same time, the Capture Disc was still hovering in the air and waiting for Kate's next move.

But Magmortar shot it down with an explosion in the air. The Disc landed on the ground, bouncing twice.

"Now! Magmortar! Crush it!" Lavana raged.

Before the Pokémon could, though, Kate made a smart move to recall the Disc back into her Vatonage Fine Styler. In a _zip_, the Capture Disc was safe in the Styler.

Another Flamethrower shot in Kate's direction, but this time it also was in Isaac's direction. Since he was hidden behind the Circuit Ball, the Circuit Ball ended up absorbing all the fire.

"Pachirisu! Give me some help here!" Kate shouted. Her Partner Pokémon was not forgotten, and Pachirisu leapt and shot a bolt of electricity into Kate's Styler. With extra power available now, and a near-captured Magmortar, Kate shot a paralysing bolt of electricity via Capture Disc to stun Magmortar for a precious three seconds.

And after those three seconds, the letters 'OK!' popped on the Vatonage Fine Styler.

"Capture complete!" Kate breathed, and collapsed on her knees, whilst listening to the sound of an exploding Miniremo, and her Capture Disc returning to her Vatonage Fine Styler.

* * *

Lavana started to sweat, looking at the aftermath of the battle.

"This really happened…?" she held a stunned face. "I should lose…? This really happened…"

"It sure looks like it," Kate said, exhausted. "Now, hand over the Yellow Gem you took from us."

Lavana rolled her eyes, looking left and right and looking at Kate again. "The Yellow Gem? I don't have it. Are you kidding me? You would think I, of all people, would carry that massive rock. That thing's took heavy to carry around!"

Kate shook her head. "Typical girl. Even _I_ could carry it around, so why can't you?"

"I may be a typical girl," Lavana emphasised, "but that thing's not in my job description!"

Kate and Isaac watched Lavana depart in a rush, and that left them alone with Kate's Pachirisu for a little moment.

"So who are we waiting for?" Kate asked.

"Kellyn," Isaac answered. "I sent him to do the same job, like you, to capture a Pokémon to destroy the Circuit Ball. It's coloured red as opposed to the one below, so we'll expect it to be burning hot. For the time being, I'll go disengage the security locks."

Isaac ran up to the keyboard and began to work through the codes on the Circuit Ball. For him, it seemed to be much more difficult that the Circuit Ball in the floor below, but still…

Kate looked up, and was stunned at the sight that Isaac was already done.

"Hah! What did I tell you?" Isaac said proudly, not taking into account that Kate hadn't said anything. "This time it only took 1.01 seconds as opposed to the one below, which was 1.38. A new record, wouldn't you say? Lavana's booby trap program didn't seem to work well either. All we need to do to wait for Kellyn to do his Target Clear. He went to find the right Pokémon while you were busy."

* * *

Kellyn arrived shortly later, and this time had a Vaporeon to follow his lead by the side of Grotle and Kirlia. It appeared that the Vaporeon had just come from a sleepy trance, but Kate guessed that must have been the effects of the Shadow Crystal above. It was fortunate that Kellyn had the Vatonage Styler in possession. If not, he probably would have never found and catured that Vaporeon safely.

"Is the device disable, Isaac?" Kellyn asked.

"You got it, Kellyn," Isaac replied. "Hurry up! The Incredible Machine –"

Vaporeon charged toward the Circuit Ball and fired a fearsome Bubblebeam attack. It didn't look too effective, but it was getting the job done nonetheless. The persistent force of water continued right until the energy inside the sphere expanded, and then imploded, which caused the Circuit Ball to explode and shatter.

"Well done, Kellyn!" Kate cheered.

It was true. Outside, the sinister electric fields were stopped, and the Circuit Ball stopped generating power to feed the barrier outside. Like downstairs, the security fence of electrical bolts guarding the next flight of stairs also stopped emitting.

It was exhausting, despite that it was the dead of night, but Kellyn and Kate felt somewhat more relieved that another Circuit Ball was destroyed. That started to clear the way…

A familiar sound of a ringing voicemail rang from both the Vatonage Styler and the Vatonage Fine Styler. Kellyn and Kate, respectively, opened their voicemails through an open channel to receive the message.

"Hey, this is Wendy! Calling from aerial support!" the Top Ranger greeted. "Layer two of the barrier just faded away. Whoever did it Kate or Kellyn, good job and great going! You've only got one more layer to handle! Keep it up!"

"Thanks Wendy, we will!" Kate said back, switching off the channel.

Kellyn looked at Isaac, who looked like he wanted to say something.

"Almost done! There's only the blue layer of the barrier to take down, let's do this!" Isaac made a confident fist, which Kellyn returned. Led by Grotle, they charged out of the room to the next flight of stairs.

Outside, from the aerial or ground view, the pinnacle of the tower only had the blue core barrier left to guard the Shadow Crystal. For every citizen in Pueltown below, they had no idea what kind of a raid was going on just across the drawbridge. To be fair: the night was just ending. While the citizens of Almia were just getting their days started, for the Rangers they were getting things done in overtime.

* * *

**What do you think of this chapter? More chapters of the Operation Brighton series will come!**


	8. The Onslaught of Ice

**An honourable mention goes to Eeveeleah for taking care to read this story! So you couldn't log in to Fanfiction, huh? At least you could still leave comments, anyway.**

** This is the next chapter in the Operation Brighton series. It's focus is on the decisive captures and battle with Ice in Altru Tower. And honestly, in the game, could a single Ranger hope to capture three overpowered Pokemon at once whilst considering the mortal physical harm they could bring? Certainly, he or she has to have had some backup at least. This chapter will consider that.**

* * *

_**Chapter eight: The Onslaught of Ice**_

As Kellyn led the group to the next flight of stairs in the counter-clockwise direction a violent rumbling, even more violent than the previous one, shook the whole building. It nearly threw the group off their feet.

"THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER," the same loudspeaker roared through the corridors and the roof. "THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1. POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS… 10%. I REPEAT. 10%. POWER IS RISING STEADILY. THERE ARE NO ABNONORMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMALITIES."

"Oh, dear," Isaac frowned. "The system seems to be speeding up progress. But it's almost level 2. We can't waste any more time now!"

Isaac looked at his former classmates and, while it was still a high-risk mission with higher stakes, he could tell Kellyn and Kate looked very tired.

"Come on, guys! It might take all night, but at least you have to have some motive, right?" Isaac snapped his fingers in front of their faces.

"I suppose…" they groaned.

Isaac frowned and nodded to their Pachirisu's.

ZZZZZTTTTTTT

"OW!"

Their Partner Pokémon, their long trusted friends since the days on Nabiki Beach, electrified them right on the spot and practically fried them. A shocking burst of paralysing energy soared through their bodies and minds. In short, it was a way to refresh them.

It felt like their eyes, once drowsy, had become –

"Awake?" Isaac inquired, judging by their expressions. "I understand that Operation Brighton might be taking a toll on your mental health, but remember that we have an entire region to save from Blake Hall. Just keep focused and fight hard!"

Kellyn glanced at Pachirisu, then Kirlia, and finally Grotle. Of the three Pokémon, Grotle was the only one looking tired. The Top Ranger assumed that Pachirisu, with an inexhaustible supply of electricity, and Kirlia, having spent much of the early part of her lifetime in the depths of Chroma Ruins, would have had no problem staying awake in spite of lack of light.

Isaac grinned and walked in the counter-clockwise direction to the final room feeding the barrier outside. The room in fact had dark tones of blue, and the electrical wires feeding energy to the barrier were in fact _blue_ energy, which was strange. The Rangers had no surprise, as the blue-coloured energy was likely sourced from its respective Circuit Ball, like the red and yellow Circuit Balls before it.

_Ice, _Kate and Kellyn thought.

"Yeah… it's the last room creating the barrier," the scientist Isaac confirmed. "I'm not surprised if you'd already guessed who it would be, being the last of the Sinis Trio and wearing blue, but it is Ice. Bear in mind, he's the head of the Trio, so don't underestimate him."

Kellyn led the charge into the room, but like the previous two times he and Kate did before Isaac would stop the second Ranger from staying into the room. Predictably, he stopped Kate from entering the room.

"Okay, Kate, I'll need you capture the Ampharos just outside where Kellyn battled Heath," Isaac instructed. "I know you might want a taste of action, but we need to get things done as efficiently as possible. There's no time to do some selfish acts."

Kate raged, "Are you accusing ME of being selfish?! I'm only trying to get the Mission done!"

Frustrated at Isaac's senseless comment, Kate tore off in a rush to find the Ampharos, Isaac could only chuckle as he walked into the third barrier control room with Kellyn.

* * *

Standing between Kellyn and the blue Circuit Ball was Ice, and standing between Ice and the Circuit Ball was his controlled Gallade. With Grotle fearlessly walking in behind Kellyn, and a slightly frightened Kirlia, the Pokémon Ranger went to face Ice.

"Hello there, Top Ranger!" Ice called and waved. "And a hello to our computer master, the boy genius Isaac! Welcome to Altru Tower, my friends."

Kellyn and Isaac frowned.

"Very soon, a new time will arrive upon Almia," Ice went on. "We will establish a dawning new era of order and peace upon this region. Join me… in counting down each second that passes from Almia's old past to its new beginning!"

"You always have to act like you're always in power, don't you?" Kellyn asked rhetorically. "That's really interesting, and it must feel good, doesn't it?"

Ice rushed, "By the way, I've always been a pacifist. It's just how I am."

_How ironic,_ Kellyn thought.

"I'm doing this in the name of peace! I fight for peace!" Ice posed a flashy stance. "We are poised for victory! Gallade, please get these infiltrators off the vicinity. You are authorised the use of excessive force at will."

Kellyn waited for Ice to move, but quickly realised very quickly what Gallade was going to do, and by then Gallade had leapt into the air and was right above Ice's head. Focusing on Gallade rather than Ice, Kellyn lifted up his Vatonage Styler.

"Capture… on!"

* * *

Gallade swiftly teleported from place to place which made Kellyn's capturing with the Vatonage Styler very difficult. When he aimed his fingers to a spot where Gallade was and started drawing the Capture Line, Gallade would instantly teleport somewhere else so Kellyn would have to aim elsewhere.

At least the Vatonage Styler, combined with the qualities of the Fine Styler, still retained the ability to aim where it wanted the Capture Disc to go with accurate and fine hand control.

But Gallade was smarter than Kellyn thought, as it sliced the Capture Line several times and teleported frequently. In Kellyn's eyes, these were signs that Gallade was a very tactical Pokémon, attacking and then slipping into thin air the next second. Kellyn had to be completely alert every time Gallade teleported, because he could never predict if Gallade teleported to his back and slashed him from behind.

"Where's your friend Kate?" Ice shouted, trying to distract Kellyn. "She must have pulled away as a coward. Or rather, she thinks she's too good for you. Don't you think that after all you two have been through, along with that friend of yours Keith, aren't you a little jealous of them?"

This left Kellyn feeling a little uncomfortable, but was able to keep his focus.

_I shouldn't need Kate's help all the time,_ Kellyn thought._ After all, I am a Top Ranger and so is she. We should be able to handle captures on our own the entire time!_

Kellyn looked to his right, where Gallade had reappeared, and flung his right-hand fingers in that direction where the Capture Disc had instantly zipped to where his fingers directed. He had to be quick and capture that Gallade – the Friendship Gauge was rising steadily, but it was only a matter of time before Gallade would disappear once more.

Gallade appeared right behind Kellyn, and the Ranger knew this. Kellyn turned around, only to see that Gallade was standing right behind Grotle and Kirlia.

"Guys! Move!" Kellyn shouted.

He was narrowly on time.

Kirlia grabbed hold of Grotle, and teleported the two to a short distance away right before Gallade made a violent swipe where Grotle and Kirlia were just standing. Kirlia nodded to Kellyn, and Kellyn went on capturing.

_Great, now he knows I want to attack his Pokémon,_ Ice thought, _I better switch tactics._

"Direct assault, and use of excessive force," Ice muttered.

Kellyn looked to his right and saw Gallade charging towards him, unable to leap away on time, Kellyn blocked the incoming attack of slices by grabbing hold of Gallade's arms before they could reach him. He knew that Gallade would overpower him eventually, and his Capture Disc was now on the ceiling…

Clunk.

_Eh?_ Kellyn thought.

Grotle had charged down at Gallade's knees, and it appeared that Kirlia had been sitting on top of Grotle's shell and had helped push Gallade off-balance too. Kellyn took advantage of Gallade's weakness and threw Gallade aside and onto the ground. As a Ranger, he wasn't supposed to harm Pokémon, despite that he was supposed to increase the Friendship Gauge.

That reminded Kellyn to look at the gauge on his Styler, and he gloomily saw the gauge start to rapidly decline. Kellyn aimed his fingers to the Gallade again and continued the capture.

Electric orbs were implanted into the ground courtesy of Gallade. Kellyn, aware of its hazards, had to cautiously maneuver the Capture Disc around each orb in an attempt to swing a line around Gallade, but the target Pokémon didn't make it easy as he teleported frequently.

Gallade disappeared in a teleport, and Kellyn had guesses to where he might appear.

Kellyn took a one-second analysis.

Seven tenths of a second were wasted looking at the area in front of him.

Fifteen hundredths of a second was used to look at his right.

Fifteen hundredths of a second was used to look at his left.

SLASH

Kellyn fell on his knees.

The Gallade had indeed teleported to his left, and in a split-second had attacked Kellyn's weaker arm with a Slash. With the 'use of excessive force' in mind, Gallade relentlessly slashed Kellyn's arm to make the pain much more intense. The Top Ranger's physical condition was protected by his Styler, but the physical pain let alone mental pain was a different story.

The Top Ranger wanted to get up now…

Clunk.

Again, Grotle and Kirlia had collided with Gallade once more. Unlike the previous collision, both Grotle and Kirlia chose to collapse right on top of Gallade to prevent further damage and movement. In addition, Pachirisu went up to the target Pokémon and shocked him silly.

In spite of a pained arm, Kellyn could still stand and perform a capture of Gallade once and for all. He aimed his Styler arm, swung his fingers for the Capture Disc to do its capture again. The gauge on the Styler was once again filling up fast.

"Capture complete!" Kellyn declared.

* * *

Gallade was released, with Ice stepping back in defeat.

"Beaten by a couple of kids, sheesh," Ice kicked a leg.

Isaac took initiative again like the previous two times. "Ice, I'd like to take a look at your booby-trap programs here."

"Be my guest," Ice gestured, and Isaac willingly ran over to the controls on the Circuit Ball. Now, normally Kellyn would have expected Isaac to get the job done just like that, but…

"This is weird," Isaac had a confused face. "This isn't the amateur-hour program which I taught the Trio in the first place!"

"What?!" Kellyn dragged his injured arm to where Isaac was standing, and by then Kate had arrived in the room with the Ampharos.

Kate first looked around the room, taking in what had just happened from Ice standing right in front of her to Isaac, Kellyn, and Kellyn's Pachirisu were standing at the Circuit Ball. Kate safely assumed that Kellyn had finished the capture.

"Oh, hey, Isaac," she said, "I've brought the Ampharos – oh my gosh! Kellyn! Are you alright?!"

A worried and astonished face overcame Kate's, as she saw Kellyn tightly clenching his left arm which was covered in slash marks. Kate went straight to him to closely examine what had injured her co-worker. To Kate's relief, there were no wounds, since protection was guaranteed by the Styler. To Kate's disbelief, Kellyn wasn't looking that well.

"What happened?" she asked, looking directly at his eyes.

"I – I got slashed by Ice's Gallade," Kellyn weakly said. "Don't worry, it's not that serious of an injury. I admit, it cost me over 50% of Styler energy, and it still hurt. Just focus on the machine."

Kate then looked at Isaac, who was struggling with the program on the Circuit Ball.

Ice broke the atmosphere by making a proud stance, "Hahahaha! Looks like I get the last laugh after all! I wasn't impressed by the kind of program you taught us, Isaac. It appeared to be insufficient, and for your information I've studied programing day and night, so wouldn't you say that the trap program is _elegant_ in many respects?"

Kellyn slouched but all the same curious. "So what compelled you to fix the program?"

"When I heard that two thieves, let alone three, had raided the tower," Ice explained, "I started to redo the program in a hurry. There's no telling what those thieves could do, and I was suspicious."

**Rumbling shook the floor and the tower above and below.**

"Agh!" Kellyn and Pachirisu fell over, as well as Kate and her Pachirisu.

Isaac knew what to expect: the incredibly loudspeaker and intercom sounding through the entire building.

"THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS CURRENTLY 1. POWER NEEDED FOR LEVEL 2 IS… VERY LITTLE. I REPEAT. VERY LITTLE. POWER IS RISING STEADILY. THERE ARE NONONO ABABABABABABABABABABABABABABNONONONORMAMAMAMAMAMAMA… THERE ARE NO ABNORMAMAMAMAMAMALITIES."

Ice threw his head back in humour. "Seems like there are abnormalities galore. All the same, Isaac, it is very certain that you are almost out of time. The Incredible Machine will hit level 2 shortly, and at the peak level 3 will be achieved when the date turns. Altru's birthday will have its greatest reason to rejoice then."

Kate and Kellyn looked back to Isaac, who shrugged.

"Don't worry about me, guys, I'll be sure to crack that trap program," Isaac assured. "For now, just hold him off until things are done."

Ice heard him.

"Well, Isaac, it seems that you have no hope in accepting hopeless situations, not to mention that you've always been very bad at it," Ice sighed. "It's what I'd think because of that that you could come up with such a great invention, you might say."

Isaac ignored the Sinis Trio leader and turned to work on cracking the code made by Ice.

It seemed like, with the backing of Kellyn's Friend Pokémon, the two Top Rangers would be able to stand a very good chance against Ice. However, the hope was fractured when Heath _and_ Lavana walked into the room. That didn't look good at all.

"We failing at orders from Boss," Heath said to Ice.

"I'm back from fixing my makeup," Lavana looked ready, but her face was diminished by Ice.

"Your booby-trap programs, both of yours, were absolute junk," Ice sneered, evidently showing his distaste. "They had amateur written all over them. Thanks your stupidity and insolence, these pests have crawled their way up here. Bah, viewing your sorry efforts won't get the job done. Lend me your Pokémon."

Kellyn reached for his Vatonage Styler, but Kate held a hand in front to stop him.

"I'm going to do it first," she murmured. "You reserve some strength until you're ready."

"TAKE THIS THREE POKÉMON ASSAULT!" Ice yelled.

In moments, the Rhyperior and Magmortar from earlier landed from above, and Ice's Gallade took center.

"Oi! Very good, golly done!" Heath clapped his hands. "That Ranger, no chance of victory! Ranger's friend cannot help. Good jobbing Leader!"

The three high-level Pokémon leapt on Kate and Kellyn, and the two Rangers dodged in time for Kate to fire her Vatonage Fine Styler. Since they were the only line of defence between the Pokémon and Isaac, they had to ensure the capture was a success.

"Capture on!" Kate and Kellyn shouted together.

* * *

Trying to focus on collaborating to capture one Pokémon was impossible, given that both Kate and Kellyn were separated by a constant fury of attacks from the three Pokémon. An earthquake-like rumble from Rhyperior combined with the firepower of Magmortar was an example why they couldn't stick together.

Kellyn, already having bad memories of Rhyperior and Heath, opted to capture Gallade once more. Given that he had just emerged battle-hardened from capturing the same Gallade earlier, he had the advantage of experience. Kate meanwhile handled Magmortar. Mainly, the reason the Rangers chose to ignore Rhyperior was because they could take advantage of its slow mobility. The most worries that could come from Rhyperior for the time being were constant attacks of rock and showering boulders.

Dodging attacks always seemed to be a routine when it came to fighting Team Dim Sun. The most efficient way, the Top Rangers found, was to roll out of harm's way and allowed momentum to build up to recover quickly and deliver a whole series of encircles before the enemy Pokémon could counter or evade.

A good example was set by Gallade, who fired a Sonicboom to where it thought the Capture Disc was. It missed and instead fired to the ground where Kate was standing on, and she had to roll aside whilst keeping her hand in the air to ensure capturing Magmortar was focused.

Ironically, Ice took the roll as a weakness and focused his efforts on Kellyn.

Kate, in turn, took advantage of Ice's focus to maximise use of her Styler to capture Magmortar, although at a safe distance so the burning effects of Flamethrower would not reach her, with an 'OK!' popping up on her monitor.

"You may have captured Magmortar," Ice said, "but I haven't forgotten about your Pokémon over there, Kellyn. Let's see how they can handle the power of Gallade and Rhyperior."

Grotle and Kirlia were not idiots, and they retreated from Gallade's slices and Rhyperior's rocky tremors to devise a way support Kellyn and Kate in any way they could. It wasn't easy, since Gallade was agile and quick enough to land a terrible blow upon either Grotle or Kirlia, if it wasn't for the fact that that was a distraction for Kellyn to capture him.

Rhyperior at the same time had splattered and rocketed rocks and boulders high into the air, with the projectiles falling to the ground in catastrophic smashing. It hurt to hear, and as a result not only did Kate and Kellyn nearly get hit by the crushing tonnes of rock but it misdirected their Capture Discs into the wall.

Gallade saw the moment of opportunity to attack…

Unfortunately, as Grotle lashed out a Vine Whip, Gallade realised too late. The Capture Disc linked to the Vatonage Styler had returned and circled the Capture Line around him in rapid circles. Given that a Vine Whip was strangling Gallade in place, he could not move.

"Hold that, Grotle!" Kellyn struggled to stand from the trembling ground. "I'll – I'll be there!"

Despite Grotle had Gallade stuck in deadlock, he still found that his vines weren't going to be enough to keep it that way. He could already feel Gallade building up strength to attempt to force its way free.

For Grotle, the strain started to get to him. Within ten seconds, Gallade would be able to break out of the Vine Whip and ready a series of Slashes and Sonicbooms.

Fortunately for Grotle, Gallade didn't have ten seconds.

By the time Gallade regained the strength to break free of Grotle's grip, it was too late. Kellyn had successfully completed the capture. Grotle, knowing that the capture was done, slowly released its grip on Gallade, and with Grotle and Kirlia's guidance Gallade retreated.

That meant that only Rhyperior was left. However, the most that Rhyperior did was rampage around with dangerous Rock Wreckers. Each part of the floor was ripped and torn asunder by massive fast-moving boulders.

_How dare Ice abuse Rhyperior like that!_ Kate angrily thought, looking at the tired state of Rhyperior. Aiming her Styler in the direction of the Drill Pokémon, she spun her Capture Disc in a solid state so the Capture Line would be tightly wrapped around Rhyperior without actually touching the Pokémon. Using her Pachirisu to help was out of the question, as the type of Pokémon Rhyperior was, along with its ability, could basically null the effect of Pachirisu's stunning.

Both Kate and Kellyn knew that the repeated use of Rock Wrecker could be hazardous to the user's health. If Rhyperior were to keep using it, it might not last much longer. In a sense of paradox, despite the circumstances, the last thing either Kate or Kellyn wanted was for Rhyperior to be completely exhausted from using all those Rock Wreckers. They were more worried for the Pokémon's health, after all.

Ice chose (key word: chose) not to focus on that aspect and went on with his continual assault. Even though Gallade and Magmortar were gone, he at least had one more powerful Pokémon to rely on to get the remaining job done. Defeat the Rangers. His best weapon was that he knew what Kate and Kellyn were thinking, so he decided to keep firing away at them until one of them fell, or until Rhyperior fell.

Rock Wrecker after Rock Wrecker, there were always times where Kate and Kellyn, let alone Isaac, could have been fatally wounded in the progress. It was fortunate for Isaac that he could use the virtually indestructible Circuit Ball as a shield while he worked on cracking the code.

"Fall back!" Kellyn ordered, waving to Kate, Grotle, and Kirlia to hide behind the Circuit Ball, just as another Rock Wrecker soared in their direction and violently hit the Circuit Ball.

Once they were safe, Kellyn said, "We need to make a strategy right now. There's no way we can capture Rhyperior while it's creating earth tremors and Rock Wreckers everywhere."

"But for Rhyperior's sake, Kellyn," Kate interjected, "we can't afford to have it fall. We would have partly failed in our duty as Rangers!"

Kellyn sighed, still deep in thought. "Then do you have any ideas what to do, Kate?"

CRAAAACK

The shattering of another Rock Wrecker meant that it was one step closer for Rhyperior to collapse, whilst being an indicator that Rhyperior could literally tear them apart right now.

Kate made a snap decision and jumped to confront the Pokémon, swinging the Capture Disc to create another Capture Line. Kellyn decided to provide support and utilized his Vatonage Styler to create distracting movements around Rhyperior's head all the way to Ice's face. It was so bad that Ice couldn't focus.

Kate, in the end, took full advantage of Kellyn's distractions and rapidly encircled her Capture Disc around Rhyperior. Although the Capture Disc was moving very quickly, her arm wasn't moving as fast, and Kate glimpsed the Friendship Gauge finally making a lot of progress.

At least it was until Rhyperior created an Earthquake.

The excessive rumbling had thrown Kate and Kellyn, as well as Isaac, off their feet. The feeling that got to their heads was one that could be explained in words like dizziness. It made Kate feel sick to her stomach while Kellyn at the same time struggled to keep his optical focus. Isaac clung onto the Circuit Ball controls for dear life, mainly because he was so focused on cracking the code.

"Kellyn! Recall!" Kate bellowed, and Kellyn complied with the order.

Their Capture Discs flew back into their Stylers and the Rangers tried to cope with the ever-changing terrain around them. True, they were on a tower floor, which meant by every right the tower should have collapsed. The thing was that this was a sturdy tower, and Rhyperior could limit its own power to determine what was safe and what was not.

Being an Earthquake, it was also common knowledge that that was dangerous to a Pachirisu's health. In fact, Kate was very surprised that Rhyperior could still be able to manage such a destructive attack after all those Rock Wreckers.

Now, the Rhyperior looked like it was about to collapse.

"Capture on!" Kate fired her Vatonage Fine Styler away. Backed by Kellyn's Vatonage Styler this time, her co-worker provided a distraction by flying his Capture Disc directly at Ice, who found the Capture Line to be very annoying. But by the time Ice found what they were planning, just a mere five seconds after Kate had launched her Styler, it was too late.

"No!" Ice shouted, and it looked like he was about to personally handle the situation.

Unfortunately, he was halted by Kellyn and Kellyn's Pokémon. Ice merely shrugged as he watched Kate victoriously shout, "Capture complete!"

* * *

Right before their eyes, the Sinis Trio were each breaking into mass sweats as they saw the Pokémon Top Rangers release their three respective Pokémon altogether. One by one, they fled the area. First Rhyperior, then Magmortar, and then finally Gallade.

It was such an embarrassment to have two Top Rangers, severely outnumbered in strength and manpower, to have defeated the three Pokémon powerhouses right there. Now, with the Pokémon going AWOL, there was no way to stop Isaac from disabling the Circuit Ball's trap.

"I – I don't believe this…" Ice said, stunned.

"Our Boss! He is on top! Of here!" Heath switched his priorities, and dashed out of the room in an instant. "Protecting him we must do!"

But as mentioned, it was a major embarrassment to be felled by Top Rangers in spite of having a trio of powerful Pokémon, so Lavana dismissed the thought of following Heath.

"I'm too ashamed to be showing my face to Boss at this point!" she screamed. "Not after being beaten by these pests again and again once more!"

Lavana ran away from the room, not considering again another thought to support Altru's objectives. That left only Ice in the room, and his face still retaining some coolness.

"You pair of spineless losers," he directed at Kate and Kellyn, "that battle was only for show, it was only to buy and kill some time, you know. Unless by some unknown reason they (Kate, Kellyn, and Isaac) can crack my trap program, the three of them are stuck here. Speaking of which, I can still see Isaac over there for the first time breaking a sweat."

True, even Kate and Kellyn were surprised that Isaac was sweating. He, Isaac, had helped design the Incredible Machine after all, had maximum understanding of physics, and was the smartest person Kate and Kellyn knew (second to the top-grade researchers and scientists at the Ranger Union).

"Wha… hey…" Ice's eyes started to widen, "Isaac? Why did you just crack a grin?"

Isaac glanced at Ice briefly with the same grin, and returned to his analytical engineering.

"It… it can't be!" Ice stepped back. "You cracked my program?! That's unbelievably fast!"

Kate looked at Kellyn, who just wiped some sweat from his forehead, and returned her sights to Ice, saying, "What did you expect? This is _Isaac_ we're talking about. He's one of our elite –"

"Having a boy genius as an enemy is that bad after all…" Ice interrupted. Reaching into his coat pocket, he said, "Here! Take this Yellow Gem! Take it and get out of here! At once! Just promise me that you will never come after me!"

He took out the glimmering crescent-shaped gem, threw it onto the ground, and tore off for the stairs and possibly flying out of the tower, since the ground floor was secured by Ranger and local authorities.

"We finally have it back," Kate stated as she walked over to pick up the hard-worked painfully-earned Yellow Gem back into her hands. "Here, Kellyn, you hold the gem for now. I'm going to have to work on destroying the Circuit Ball."

"Eh…? Why me?" Kellyn asked, a little tired, but he took the gem anyway.

Kate and Kellyn then walked to where Isaac was still standing. It appeared that he had finally had the program business over with, with Isaac walking away from it.

"The program is currently disengaged," he breathed a sigh of relief, and wiping off the sweat from his head. "It's now ready for a Target Clear, Kate. Do you have the Ampharos I asked for?"

"I do," Kate replied. She waved a hand at the Ampharos behind to aim at the blue Circuit Ball. "When you're ready, fire away, Ampharos."

Seconds later, a Thunder attack landed powerfully on the weakened Circuit Ball, and energy raced into the core of the Circuit Ball. Energy exploded from the inside and wrecked and shattered the Circuit Ball into pieces.

"Awesome," Kellyn complimented. "With the last of the barriers down, we can head upstairs."

_What the what?_ Isaac thought, looking at the Circuit Ball in a strange way. "Kate! Watch out!"

He leapt and pushed Kate onto the ground (ouch!) and the Circuit Ball device exploded. If not only Kate and Isaac, her Pachirisu was thrown to the ground by the explosion.

Kate and Isaac slowly got up, with a surprised Kellyn in the distance, to see a burning control panel looking as if the flames were meant to intimidate. And to be honest, it did.

"You okay?" Isaac looked at Kate and her Pachirisu beside him.

"I'm… fine," Kate slowly said, trying to catch her breath from the shock she received upon her hard landing on the ground. Her Pachirisu slowly got up too, but a little faster than Kate given that Pachirisu had experience taking damage in the field.

Isaac got up too to look at the flamed panel, studied it briefly, and then reported, "That trap had a time delay on it. I didn't expect Ice to have mastered programing so sophisticated… Those three, they've really picked the wrong path didn't they? Not unlike me."

The post-battle atmosphere was broken with a ringing from the Vatonage Stylers. Kate and Kellyn had to switch them on to a channel to establish contact.

"Report," Kate said, but not in a demanding way but rather in an anticipating way. To add to that, she asked in a begging-like tone.

"Uh… this is Sven," the Top Ranger said. "The barrier's final layer is gone! Now, there is no barrier to keep us down. We can now approach the Shadow Crystal whenever we want, and Operation Brighton will still commence now! I'm a little worried about Keith, but he's a Top Ranger nonetheless."

Kate and Kellyn wore looks of worry at the sound of that, in which Sven noticed.

"Ah, he'll be fine, just watch," Sven added.

Before Kate and Kellyn could finish up their voicemail channels, they were interrupted by another incoming voicemail.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! Professor Hastings here!" a rushed voice, but familiar, sounded through the open channel. "Sven and Wendy! Can you hear me from above the tower?"

"Yes sir!" the simultaneous reply came from _both_ Sven and Wendy.

"Here are your orders, in light of the now disabled barrier," Hastings briefed. "Encircle the tower with the gems in hand, and get as close to it as possible. Even the two gems with you should have a significant impact on the Shadow Crystal at least!"

"Roger!" Sven affirmed.

"Understood!" Wendy affirmed too.

* * *

In the skies outside, it was clear that the blue barrier located at the core of the tower was gone. A pair of Staraptors flew closer to the darkened Shadow Crystal.

"Airborne!" Wendy rallied, soaring a few loops with her Staraptor before flying directly in the direction of the massive atrocity of a blackened crystal.

But when Wendy and Sven approached the premises of Altru Tower, they were thrown off by the shaking and rumbling of the structure, which forced the Staraptor to retreat.

"Whoa!" Sven held tightly to his Staraptor, while looking at the tower. "What's going on in there?"

* * *

"THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER HAS REACHED LEVEL 2. POWER LEVEL NEEDED FOR LEVEL 3 IS… 99% MORE. 98% MORE. 97% MORE. 96% MORE. 95% MORE. 94% MORE. THERE ARE NO ^v^v^. BZZZZZZZZZZZ GTZZZZZZZZZZ."

Just hearing the sounds of an ever-growing-more powerful mechanism was fearful to anyone. For Isaac, Kellyn and Kate, as well as the Pachirisu's, Grotle, and Kirlia, they shuddered at the sound.

_No…_ Isaac thought.

* * *

**The Operation Brighton series will be continued.**


	9. Almia in Terror and Darkness!

**I agree with Eeveeleah that people should read this story more. It's a really good story and actually includes Operation Brighton!**

**This chapter is a continuation of the Operation Brighton series, focusing on the Mission "Execute Operation Brighton!"**

* * *

_**Chapter nine: Almia in Terror… and Darkness!**_

In a tower level above, just one or two stories higher, was a research team commissioned by Altru and dedicated to attempting to harness the power of darkness. A couple of Altru researchers were watching a black matter forming in the middle of a circle of black Gigaremoes. Hence their purpose was to harness the darkness, and so the darkness was doing its job at fueling the Incredible Machine with power and dark energy.

"The dream-energy machine has become fully operational!" a researcher observed from the data received by the Incredible Machine and the black Gigaremoes.

"B – But isn't there something wrong with this thing?" the other researcher looked worriedly at the dark matter. "I'm getting malfunctioning reports right now, and they're off the charts!"

The first researcher rushed around the Gigaremoes and the dark matter, located inside a brightened pit, to look at the confirmed reports. Shifting his views from the data to looking down at the pit, he concluded, "There's something wrong with the Gigaremo Black!"

"Yeah! It's like the Gigaremoes are actually being controlled by the shadowing being instead!" the other researcher said, still looking at the data reads. "No doubt about it, the Gigaremoes are now beyond our control!"

Slowly, it appeared the dark matter to grow increasingly unstable.

"This shouldn't be happening! What's going on here?!"

"SO WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST WE DO?!"

* * *

Away, far away, in the lush and rich Vien Forest where Grotle came from, Pokémon were starting to feel the effects of a dark aura from far away. Ninjasks, Flaafy's, Ponyta's, Floatzel's, and hundreds of other Pokémon always had the freedom to enjoy their independence.

Now, it seemed that the dark aura had put a stop to that.

On the streets of Pueltown West, the local Pokémon were suddenly brought under the domination of the dark aura. Bibarel's and Chatot's began to misbehave and act aggressively.

"The Pokémon…" a local watched from a safe distance. "What has gotten into them?"

Attention spurred through the same streets from that place all the way to Pueltown Harbour. Citizens from all over the port city looked at each Pokémon they came across or knew about and could understand that something was wrong.

"They're suffering…" a young woman observed, "but from what?! This is unnatural!"

* * *

At the Chroma Road, a pathway that provided the connection between Pueltown and the treacherous Chroma Highlands, a confrontation between an administrator of Team Dim Sun with his Girafarig and an Area Ranger was midway.

But as the dark aura approached and spread, the confrontation came to an abrupt end.

"The Pokémon are rampaging in abnormal ways!" the Area Ranger glared, her eyes ablaze. "You! Team Dim Sun goon! This is _your_ doing, isn't it?!"

But the Dim Sun admin, looking at his useless Miniremo, denied, "No! It's not me! I swear! Look at me! I haven't done anything yet! It – it's being controlled by something other than my Miniremo!"

* * *

"Now they've done it," Isaac grudgingly said under his breath. "Kate and Kellyn. If you look at the floor, you can see two gauge bars out of three blinking green. Now that the Incredible Machine has reached Level 2, it will take almost no time to get to Level 3!"

He turned to look at them. "President Blake Hall's going to get his way! We have to stop him!"

Isaac tore off for the stairs first, but he stopped at the sight of the Rangers. What were they doing, standing there, especially when this was a time of crisis?

"Oh," he said, giving them a reproving but understanding look. "I'll – I'll see you upstairs in a bit."

Isaac went up the stairs first, with the two Rangers staying there to comfort their Pokémon.

Kate hugged her Pachirisu tightly for a long moment before heading up the stairs, and Kellyn kneeled put an arm around Grotle and Kirlia with his Pachirisu perched on his shoulder.

"Ready, guys?" he looked first to Pachirisu, then to his Friend Pokémon.

The satisfying result was a firm and brave nod of agreement, and Kellyn smiled. Getting up, he gestured for them to go up the stairs. Pachirisu leapt onto the ground to take the lead by scurrying, with Kellyn, Grotle, and Kirlia rushing after him. For a moment Kellyn did wonder: what if he had released both his Friend Pokémon and then realised they would be under control of the Incredible Machine?

* * *

When Isaac, Kate, and Kellyn reached the next room, they could literally feel an uncomforting aura wafting in the air. As it appeared, the aura radiated from a dark matter in particular brightened pit that made up the centre of the room.

Stationed around the dark matter were a ring of Gigaremoes. Unlike all of the Gigaremoes the Rangers had ever encountered in their career, these ones were coloured black. In only a few seconds, due some part to their Stylers, Kate and Kellyn figured that the black Gigaremoes were indestructible. With only so much time on their hands, they ignored the researchers and the nearby Gengar to proceed upstairs.

"Shouldn't we even try to destroy the Gigaremoes?" Kellyn said, looking down at the ring while he followed Isaac up the stairs.

"No time," Kate answered, though looking at the Gigaremoes too. "It doesn't look like they're destructible either. If we have time after we execute Operation Brighton, then maybe we'll confiscate them."

It still wasn't pleasant to see the dark matter, though, nor was it pleasant to hear the sounds of the Gigaremoes combined with the rumbling of the dark matter. Besides, it was not just dark matter as simple as that, but rather in capitals and in bold print: **DARK** matter. It would have made more sense if Kate or Kellyn let alone Isaac had called for reinforcements, but in the midst of the scene they had completely forgotten to.

* * *

In the tower floor above was the typical circular-format room. However upon arrival there were no hostiles in proximity, which allowed Kate, Kellyn, and the Pachirisu's to take a breather. The only thing special or outstanding in the area was a wall-sized computer built into the wall. The only way to approach the computer itself was to walk into a closed space between two walls (the walls of interest stretched as high from floor to ceiling).

"What's this?" Isaac walked up to it first. "I've never seen that machine around here before…"

"Ignore it," Kellyn said, eyeing the computer suspiciously. "We're very close to the tower pinnacle, so we may as well be on our way there."

The walked the length of diameter from the computer to the tall flight of stairs that very likely led to the top of the tower. But Isaac stopped at the sight of what lay ahead. There were two flights of stairs: one on the left and one on the right that faced each other directly (think of 90 degree turns to the left or the right to go up either stairs). What lay between the stairs was a metal floor that crackled with electricity: effectively a barrier.

"Whoa!" Isaac stared at the malevolent sparks and lightening. "Be careful, that's high-voltage power! There wasn't a barrier like this before, and yeah, we can't pass unless we can somehow get rid of it."

Kate and Kellyn were left thinking what to do, but Isaac beat them to it with a face of realisation.

"Oh, wait, that machine back there might be controlling the floor," Isaac said. "I'll check it out."

They watched Isaac retreat into the space between the two walls, and seeing that there was nothing else to do for the time being Kate and Kellyn followed Isaac to see what he would do. Speaking of which, Isaac, who had approached and began working on the calculations and details, breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

"This is it, no doubt," he said, relieved, and turned to briefly look at the Rangers. "I'm guessing it's the same program as the one we had with Ice, you know, in the Circuit Ball room. It's rather ingenious program, I'd say."

"So it should be a bit of problem for you?" Kate said, starting to feel anxious.

"It's a piece of cake for me, and I've just finished the similar program earlier," Isaac crossed his arms. "How's this?"

He typed in the entry codes and confirmed the command.

Kate and Kellyn looked at the other side of the room to see the high-voltage field running at tens of hundreds of coulombs to finally switch off. With not even a single spark in sight, it certainly looked like Isaac had done the job, and done it well.

_Great!_ Kate and Kellyn happily thought.

"We now have free access to the towers top now –" Isaac began.

CRACK! ZZZZZTTTTTTT

Kate jumped and instantly turned around, with Kellyn dong the same thing. The sound was in fact the crackling of an electric fence shooting green bolts to close the space where Isaac was standing in. With the two walls barricading him in, Isaac had no way out.

The Pachirisu's leapt down to look at the electric barrier, and they were surprised as much as the Rangers and Isaac were, let alone Grotle and Kirlia.

"No!" Isaac cried, suddenly remorseful. "It's the same time-lapse trap from before! I should have known about this!"

Kellyn stepped up. "We'll find a way to get you out of here."

Isaac held up a hand and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kellyn, but I think this is as far as I can go to help you. The same goes for you, Kate."

Kate and Kellyn refused to believe that there wasn't any hope left.

"All is not lost, Isaac!" Kate protested. "Like Kellyn said, we can get you out!"

"You have to hurry and get the operation done!" Isaac shut them down. "Otherwise, there won't be much light left. Before you leave, I just wanted to say I'm grateful for you two that you believed in me, in spite that I helped complete the Incredible Machine with Altru. Thank you, guys, I really mean it."

But Kate and Kellyn stood where they were, and Isaac shouted, "There's no time left to waste now! You're tough enough to take them all on! Besides, you've got your airborne friends to help you out too. I'll try to get out on my own. Get to the top! Now!"

Kellyn grimaced, and waved for Grotle and Kirlia to follow him. "Come on, he's right."

Kate needed a moment before leaving for the stairs.

"I'll take the stairs to the left, and you can take the right, Kate," Kellyn instructed. "They're bound to lead to the same place, and you never know there could be Dim Sun reinforcements on either side."

The Rangers parted separate ways, with Kate and her Pachirisu heading up a steep inclined staircase with no handrails, and Kellyn and his Pachirisu went up an identical staircase just like it. For Grotle, he hand no struggle crawling up the stairs, and Kirlia only needed to teleport from place to place.

* * *

**Note: Isaac is no longer with the group!**

* * *

The two staircases, although appearing to be going up in separate directions, would cross to face the other direction midway via a platform. In short, when the first half of the stairs reached the platform, Kellyn and Kate would head up the second set of stairs with a 180 degree turn to meet at the pinnacle's center. The centre was in fact a massive platform with a large Altru Inc. logo inscribed on it.

Since there was no need to say anything, Kate and Kellyn didn't do so. They were silent. They quietly walked to the middle of the platform with the insignia on it.

"Kellyn!" Kate exclaimed. "The Yellow Gem!"

He did look at the gem he possessed, and understood why Kate was so surprised. The Yellow Gem all by itself shined a bright white light. It only lasted for a brief moment, but Kellyn and his Pachirisu wanted to know more about it.

**A LOUD rumbling shook the tower and the vast area around it beyond all reason.**

"THIS IS ALTRU CORE COMPUTER. THIS IS ALTRUTRUTRUTRUTRUTRUTRUTRUTRU…" roared the loudspeaker. "THE INCREDIBLE MACHINE'S POWER LEVEL IS LEVEL 3! REPEAT: LEVEL 3! RRRRRRRRREPEAT: LEVELEVELEVELEVELEVEL 3!"

_Oh dear,_ Kellyn thought. _No!_

"THIS IS ALTRU THIS IS ALTRU THIS IS ALTRU ALMIA GHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZZ…"

Kate knew what would happen next. It was too predictable, but unfortunately it had to be so. Kilometres and miles away, Pokémon from all over Almia would submit to the power of the Incredible Machine. Kate had no idea if that applied to her Pachirisu, let alone Kellyn's, but she certainly hoped that the Incredible Machine would never have any effect. If that were the case… there goes three years of enduring friendship.

* * *

In Hia Valley, just outside of the snow-covered house of Mrs. Winter, the elderly woman looked outside to see the usual Pokémon in misbehaviour. Curious of what was going on, she walked outside to check it out.

The Delibird were stunned.

An Abomasnow approached Mrs. Winter in an aggressive manner. It drew closer and closer…

Mrs. Winter, in turn, retreated into the safety of her warm home.

* * *

In Boyle Volcano and its neighbour Volcano Cave, located at the far north-easternmost corner of Almia, Torkoal's, Raichu's, Rhydon's and other nearby Pokémon were brought under the influence of the Incredible Machine.

* * *

In the Haruba Desert, farthest away from Pueltown, the Incredible Machine had done its damage shown by Hippopotas roaming mindlessly and senselessly in the direction of Haruba Village. There were already eyewitness accounts taken place by Henry, his son Hank, and a couple of locals. Along with the Hippopotas bred a violent sandstorm, and the waves of sand were sent in multiple directions from top to bottom in Haruba Desert.

"What has gotten into the Hippopotas?!" Henry stared, frightened at the sight of chaotic Pokémon. "This is unnatural!"

"What's going on?!" Hank cried.

One local, an elderly man, studied the Hippopotas carefully before saying, "They seem to be suffering terribly, I fear…"

* * *

The most preoccupied and worried of all citizens of Almia were, incidentally, the Ranger Union. In the control room where Operation Brighton was being overseen, with Chairperson Erma and Professor Hastings overseeing the efforts from the higher level, the place was in an uproar.

"What's going on out there?!" Hastings noticed the alarming icons showing up on the computer screens and maps.

"No, no, no! The Incredible Machine's power level has hit Level 3!" Rhythmi reported. Her face and hair was starting to sweat a lot.

Marcus, the co-worker and Operator, also reported with a sweaty face, "Its effect is even spreading to the Pokémon in corners and across all of Almia! Area Rangers speaking from Hia Valley and Haruba Desert are getting similar reports!"

And Linda, the third co-worker and Operator, was sweating just like her co-workers, mainly because of stress and more reports. "I'm getting a flood of reports of Pokémon going out of control throughout Almia!"

Linda couldn't handle the stress anymore. With the kinds of reports she had been reading, she was practically overwhelmed by the details of the reports themselves. Linda got out of her seat and walked to face Hastings and Erma.

"Please, let me go to the operation site!" she pleaded. "I want to help our Top Rangers!"

But as much as Linda wanted to, her hopes were crushed by the steel words of Professor Hastings.

"No! I forbid that!" he shouted. "True, this is a time of ongoing crisis, but as an Operator you must remain at the Ranger Union to gather what information you can to inform and support the Rangers. It's pretty much the best way you can help the Top Rangers. Above all, that is an essential role to perform during Operation Brighton. You may think Altru Tower may be the only operation site, but alas, it's not! The operation site also participates right here where you stand!"

Linda looked discouraged, but she looked more worried over anything else.

"Linda, things will be fine," Erma assured. "You must have faith in our Top Rangers!"

The Operator Linda tried to relax, but she held a lot of anxiety in her mind. Still, to trust in the Rangers was a natural thing to do, but still…

* * *

**Review please, if you're reading this. I assure that you're the very few who chose to read this. Eeveeleah, you get an honourable mention!**


	10. The Forces of Darkness

**What I own here... is pretty much the added or modified speeches given by the characters. I don't own Pokemon, that's for sure, but the speech... I do own at least half of it. An honourable mention to Eeveeleah and SpiritBlueWolf, by the way!**

**This chapter is still part of the Operation Brighton series, and as a warning there is some sense of violence in here, which is why I'm rating this story K plus.**

* * *

_**Chapter ten: The Forces of Darkness**_

High at the summit of Altru Tower, the gargantuan Shadow Crystal stood proudly on top of a shadowy swirling vortex. In front of the crystal were, predictably, Altru President Blake Hall, Heath, and Blake's subordinate Wheeler.

"Ah… what's this?" Blake lifted his eyes to see the approach of two Pokémon Rangers. From what he had heard or been reported about two elite Top Rangers roaming around Almia and sabotaging Team Dim Sun operatives, he supposed that these were the two.

The two Rangers in front of him took a fighting stance, with their Pokémon not far behind doing the same gestures. A Pachirisu on the left and a Pachirisu on the right stood on top of their respective Rangers' shoulders, with a Grotle and a Kirlia fearlessly looking into his eyes.

But from what Kirlia saw, looking into Blake's eyes, she knew that he wasn't scared.

"Ah, I seem to have run all out of business cards. How careless of me," Blake joked. Clearly, this confirmed Kirlia's thoughts. "It doesn't matter. _Nothing_ matters. First, I'd like to introduce myself: I am – ahem – Altru Inc. President –"

"Blake Hall," Kate interrupted rudely, keeping an eye on the Shadow Crystal. "We _know_. I don't know how far you're going to bring this Incredible Machine to its use, but what we will do is to stop that Shadow Crystal of yours. It won't work, you know."

Blake's eyes narrowed, even though no one could tell since he was wearing sunglasses. "You have a big mouth to jump to conclusions, lass. From what I've been hearing, this commotion caused by you Rangers is called Operation Brighton, isn't it? Brighton… my father's name… if you will, by coincidence, I will actually consider it a family honour to be part of such undertaking."

Wheeler cackled.

"Also," Blake continued, but he had his back turned to the Rangers, "it's quite an honour to see someone go through so much to visit me. But unfortunately, for you, you've arrived just slightly too late. Shall we say, a smidgeon too late?"

Whatever bravery had showed on the Rangers' faces, let alone their Pokémon, had left them.

Heath nodded in approval. "Us holding you up did something very good after all."

Blake shrugged. "Yes, I would say it's only been minutes since the Incredible Machine had attained full power. But even in that short amount of time the Incredible Machine has extended its influence to the reaches , the perimeters, of the known Almia region. But you know, I'm _really_ surprised that the Almia region hasn't affected _you_ Rangers' Pokémon. Nevertheless, all Pokémon in Almia, including above the ground or below it, are under my full and complete control. They are mine to do my bidding, and my bidding alone."

"Pardon for asking," Kate said through gritted teeth, "but what exactly are your intentions with that kind of power. That kind of power in the hands of an individual is of interest to us Rangers, come to that. So what _are_ your plans?"

"I'm glad to see you're interested," Blake answered, but Kate scowled, "I can have them excavating and mining. I can use them as cargo transports. Pokémon alone can be used to make electricity to power our needs. Or those that can make heat or push great volumes of water can be used to power major electrical plants. Or consider, if you will, a time of crisis. What if we are threatened by outsiders? The answer to that, my friends, is Pokémon: they will be the ideal military we need, and who can argue with that logic?"

Blake looked down at the stunned faces of the two Rangers, who were trying to comprehend the kind of ideals that Blake had in mind.

"Yes, this is the dream-energy machine that is powered by Pokémon," Blake finished. "Wouldn't you agree that description is an appropriate one?"

"POKÉMON ARE NOT SLAVES!" Kellyn roared, shocking Blake, Grotle, and Kirlia, let alone Kate. "You think that Pokémon are exhaustible resources? That they were destined to serve humans only and that once they've run out of energy, you can just toss them aside? Do you even consider that, unlike your precious Altru, that they aren't just mindless machines?! They have the right to choose! And they have freedoms just like WE do! If they were bound to be enslaved just to serve humans, then we would become nothing more than a symbol of being above the law, that we would have the right to abuse them whenever we want. To you, Blake Hall, you are nothing more than a force of tyranny and dictatorship. As a Ranger, my co-worker and I work to preserve the rights, freedoms, and friendships of Pokémon and humans alike. I order you to stop this madness. NOW!"

A stunning and ringing silence followed that, with Blake, Wheeler, Heath staring at Kellyn on one end, and Kate, Grotle, and Kirlia wrenched a little fear at Kellyn's blowing words. But after a moment, Kate stood beside Kellyn, sending the message that she had the same standpoint.

Wheeler rushed in front of Blake.

"If I may say so, sir, your wise words are but sadly wasted on these uncivilised and foul-mouthed children," he said. "Perhaps a light meal will prompt them to leave us be. Heh!"

Wheeler turned around to face the Rangers, who were now fired up.

"Let dear old Wheeler here give you a light snack. For my own satisfaction, really," he said, reached behind his back. "What shall it be? A knuckle sandwich? Or a judo chop suey? Or, or… why don't you become my friend's snack instead?"

He didn't need to whip out a Miniremo, as a Bidoof leapt from behind on top of Grotle.

But before anyone could say "Capture on!" the Bidoof was captured on the spot. The Bidoof, probably captured by Kate, was released.

"Surprised?" a smile edged on Kellyn's mouth. "What do you take us for?"

"Oh? How very, very, odd…" Wheeler was actually surprised. "Let me catch my breath, and… say hello to another friend! Let another Bidoof take its place!"

Blake Hall, with a voice of steel, pushed Wheeler to the ground, saying, "Enough."

Wheeler, as insane as he was, said, "Ah, Mr. Hall, I see, I see, indeed. You wish to toy with the children yourself? Children, you should feel privileged. Your downfall is secured!"

"Silence, Wheler," Blake cut in, and Wheeler silently retreated. "Do not talk anymore. What is the point of bringing out a Bidoof at a time like this? This is not Ranger School."

Kate rolled her eyes at the scene.

"Is that really the best you could do with the device? Summoning Bidoof to attack us?" she taunted. "It doesn't seem to be working. We could capture every Pokémon you bring into Altru Tower! If not counting your Altru Pokémon, the biggest challenge we could face is basically the local Pokémon in Pueltown, and maybe some near Vien Forest. Of course, there might be more powerful Pokémon you could use, but I doubt they could get here in time. They'd have to fly up here!"

"I'm sorry, Ranger, Kate was it? I've noticed that your co-worker beside you, (Kellyn, right?), seems to be struggling with his left arm over there," Blake eyed Kellyn. "Have you been injured at all, lately?"

"I wouldn't think so," Kellyn lied, hoping that Blake Hall wouldn't use the Ranger's weakened arm to his advantage. "It's just a minor sprain from a recent fall, but it'll heal quickly."

Blake saw through the deception.

"I'm afraid this is no time for jokes, Kellyn," he said. "Your co-worker Kate seems to have underestimated the powerful extent of the Incredible Machine. She fails to understand the enormity of what it can represent and do. Fair enough. No one other than me can truly understand what it's capable of. But once the new dawn arrives, everyone will know. Very soon now, the date will change, and Altru will celebrate its new birth."

"But back to your arm, Kellyn," Blake continued. "I understand that you have sustained major cuts and slashes, which is all the better for your immediate removal from these premises. Allow me to give you a taste of the Incredible Machine's power."

Blake retreated to the control device of the Incredible Machine, which was basically a miniature blackened Circuit Ball. Kate, looking at Kellyn in a worried state, readied her Styler.

"Let me summon a Pokémon that is worthy of this joyous occasion," Blake declared, and then thinking of what his next move should be, "a Pokémon that can represent this new era of darkness. What would that Pokémon be…? That said, that Pokémon… now? Or not? Not now…"

Even though Kate and Kellyn couldn't see the controls, they knew that Blake was looking at a list of every known Pokémon in Almia, judging by the president's thoughtful state of mind.

"This is absolutely wonderful, isn't it?!" the Altru president shouted. "From here, I have an entire list of Pokémon of choice, and they are all available for me to summon. Whether they are in hoards or individual, they are mine to control as I desire!"

Kellyn looked at Grotle and Kirlia once more to ensure that nothing was wrong with them, and indeed, they looked fine but frightened.

"Gigaremo? Miniremo? No longer necessary," Blake explained. "There! A Pokémon perfect for you! I've spotted it in the Haruba Desert. Here it comes!"

The Shadow Crystal began to radiate with intense dark power…

* * *

If anyone in Almia were to look up into the skies, they would have seen an ominous shadow flying from the southeastern area of Almia to the port city of Pueltown…

* * *

"Development of this machine took exceptional effort," Blake explained, procrastinating for his called-out Pokémon to arrive, "It was very expensive, but it was well worth the effort and the money. You see, the project started off when we placed Kincaid at a teaching post at the Ranger School –"

_That was three years ago_, Kellyn thought. _I remember that dare for going into the school basement, but… was that what Kincaid had been doing during those three years of my school career?!_

"– He succeeded in recruiting a genius there who appears roughly only once in a century."

_Isaac_, Kate thought suddenly, finally putting all her known details together. _So three years ago Kincaid had already started this project, and up to now Isaac has been helping him the entire time!_

Blake stopped talking and looked up. "Ah! Here it is! The Pokémon from the Haruba Desert! As I have said, the Incredible Machine allows me to summon any Pokémon I wish. I have proved you wrong, Kate. Allow me to introduce you to my Dusknoir."

"Dusknoir," Blake said to the Pokémon, "this Ranger has come to join in our celebrations. Give our guest an expression of how grateful we are!"

"That's not your Dusknoir!" Kate angrily shouted. "Haven't you learned _anything_, 'Mr.' president? These Pokémon, whatever kind, have their rights and independence! You don't just take a Pokémon from a desert and then claim it as your own, given that you've never formed a friendship with that Dusknoir. You're basically using this thing as a weapon, nothing more! You. Treat. Pokémon. Like. They're. Tools!"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Blake yelled, and this prompted Kate and Kellyn to prepare a defence.

Dusknoir raced toward the Rangers.

Kate and Kellyn lifted up their Vatonage Stylers and fired away their Capture Discs.

"Capture on!"

* * *

A leaping fireball was what worried Kate and Kellyn the most as they progressed in their capture. Thanks to the efforts of Grotle and Kirlia, the fireball was able to be held at bay. Grotle basically flattened the fireball, in spite of being a grass-type, while Kirlia helped stamp out extra flames where needed.

In short, this saved Kate and Kellyn a lot of grief, not to mention that they were under a lot of pressure (and grief!) already, and they could focus on capturing Dusknoir.

Dusknoir was, at best, one of the most persistent Pokémon Kate and Kellyn had ever fought. Multiple Shadow Balls fired at an instant and crashing to the ground in an explosion really forced Kate and Kellyn to keep their feet running and jumping while keeping their arms up to spin their Capture Discs around the menacing Pokémon.

"Enough of this," Blake muttered.

A ring of fire enveloped Dusknoir all around, and the two Capture Discs belong to Kate and Kellyn were blown off to the ground. If it really came to the worst, the Capture Discs would have been blown off the tower. It was still a good thing that the Vatonage Stylers held fine control capability that prevented them from falling, but that would still mean less time to stop Blake Hall. Time that Kate or Kellyn didn't have.

_Another fireball!_ Kate realised, looking at what Dusknoir had been preparing.

The fireball began to leap around the floor, and it was not that difficult to dodge let alone extinguish since it was slow-moving. The problem was that that was a distraction.

"Now for a little treat just for you, Kellyn," Blake sneered.

Dusknoir faded and ominously appeared on Kellyn's left, seized his pre-injured arm from Gallade with its massive hand, and would not let go.

Kellyn could only gasp.

And then his arm began to burn.

"LET GO!" Kellyn yelled out of his own torture. "ARGH!"

KERTHUNK

Rocketing explosions blasted around the Rangers' feet, courtesy of an unexpected relentless barrage of Shadow Balls by Dusknoir, threw them high in the air (about five metres high, or sixteen feet). Kate and Kellyn started falling to the floor in fear, with their Pachirisu's grabbing onto their Rangers' shoulders for dear life.

It seemed like it was all over now that it looked they were going to land on their heads or at least on their sides…

SNAP

The Top Rangers were somehow suspended in the air. It didn't take long for them to figure out what was going on.

"Thanks Grotle!" Kellyn shouted, taking note of Grotle's vines to keep the Rangers from falling, and began to gently lower them to the ground.

"Grotle! On your right!" Kate cried.

The Dusknoir, commanded by Blake, rushed over to Grotle and gave an aggressive punch on his side. Grotle, losing focus, was thrown aside and loosened his grip on Kate and Kellyn. But Grotle would not let go.

"Stubborn pests!" Blake shouted angrily. "Dusknoir! Eliminate those Pokémon that stand in our path to build our corporate empire."

Dusknoir prepared to throw another punishing punch at Grotle, enough to knock out Grotle for good, but the ghostly phantom Pokémon was interrupted once again.

"What?!" Blake shouted hoarsely.

Dusknoir was tackled down to the ground. The culprit was, to everyone's surprise, none other than Kirlia. For a Pokémon so small compared to Dusknoir, she sure had a lot of strength (and the nerve!) to take down a Pokémon much more powerful than she was, particularly Dusknoir.

"Don't just watch them, Kellyn!" Kate shouted in frustration to her co-worker. "Use this opportunity to our advantage!"

"Right, right!"

With a knocked-down Dusknoir lying vulnerable on the floor, Kate and Kellyn used their Stylers to add several more loops around the Pokémon. The Friendship gauge, which had been depleted due to the Shadow Ball barrage, began to fill up once more.

But once again, things took a turn for the worse.

"I said _eliminate _them," Blake growled. "Destroy that Kirlia if you have to!"

Dusknoir obeyed and, lying on the ground, seized Kirlia's feet with one hand ("Kirlia!" Kellyn was distracted, but Kate urged him to keep capturing) and lifted her upside-down to face the ground. Dusknoir lifted its other hand and began to form another Shadow ball in it.

"I will show you one aspect of emotional attachments, Kellyn," Blake said. "It's partly one reason why the Rangers are so problematic, and that's why I have the Incredible Machine here."

"No!" Kellyn cried and, to Kate's dismay, flung his Styler arm in the direction of Dusknoir's hand holding Kirlia. The Capture Disc hit the hand and dropped Kirlia on the ground. It wasn't a soft landing, but at least it wasn't head-first.

"Run, Kirlia!" Kate ordered, changing her mind to focus on Kirlia, but at the same time retained her Styler arm to encircle the Capture Line around Dusknoir.

Kirlia did run, and in the direction of Grotle too. But by the time she did start to run Dusknoir had formed the Shadow Ball barrage and fired away at Kirlia.

It was _extremely_ fortunate that Kirlia still had teleporting capabilities! She warped just half a second before the Shadow Balls reached where she stood to the side, but when she did that the Shadow Balls hit the ground an inch from Grotle. Grotle was afflicted with a blinding pain.

This, in turn, made the Top Rangers fall to the ground again. But now that they were less than a metre off the ground now, they only had to land on their feet.

"I'll go and see how Grotle and Kirlia are doing," Kellyn told his Pachirisu, while at the same time he recalled his Capture Disc. "Pachirisu, you go and help out Kate with finishing her capture!"

Pachirisu scurried away to join Kate while Kellyn rushed to see his Friend Pokémon's condition. In Kate's eyes for the briefest moment, she saw Kellyn treating his Pokémon very slowly and delicately, but it looked more like he was afraid something worse would have happened to them. As a Ranger, Kellyn should have no problem seeing what was wrong, but Kate could tell that her co-worker was blaming himself for the Pokémon's injuries.

"Right on time, Pachirisu," Kate said, looking at Kellyn's Partner with a sense of relief. "Let's finish this up! Poké Assist Electric!"

The two Pachirisu's jumped up to fire electric bolts to fuel Kate's Vatonage Styler with energy and create paralysing bolts in her Capture Line. Double paralysing power, once again, proved to be of extraordinary use when it came to capturing super powerful Pokémon. Never had it failed much to either Kellyn or Kate for as long as they could remember (not that long, only somewhere in the middle of their Ranger career, really).

A potent bolt of lightning landed beside Dusknoir just under Kate's Capture Line. The phantom gripper was in a state of shock and couldn't move. Kate glanced at her monitor and her face brightened up.

_I see. The Friendship Gauge is 80% full. I still have a lot of time for the double Poké Assist too! That's more than enough for me!_

Kate focused her Styler hand and prepared for a charge capture, one of the Fine Styler's exclusive capabilities. Although with Program VN installed in her Styler, she could determine if Program VN could affect the charge capture function too.

She started to feel power surging through her fingers.

_Of course,_ Kate thought. _Program VN was only meant to modify my Fine Styler, but it's literally a skyrocketing upgrade for me, like Kellyn's Incredible Program! With it, I can still use the charge capture like I always have before!_

"Go!" she snapped her arm to Dusknoir.

A helpless Dusknoir, still under the effects of paralysis, could do nothing. The last line of defence was to form a ring of fire around itself, but sadly it was not enough.

The Capture Line belonging to Kate remained where it always was, only that the Capture Disc had completely stopped moving. Suddenly, Dusknoir didn't feel like fighting anymore.

"Capture complete!" Kate cheered, and recalled her Capture Disc, and found some data on Dusknoir being automatically registered into her Styler.

* * *

**Is this the end...? No, not at all! The Operation Brighton series will be continued.**


	11. Into the Abyss

**Credits to Eeveeleah and Reddest Crimson for watching out for this story!**

**Now, this chapter is still part of the Operation Brighton series. This is also the part I'm sure many of you are familiar with, should you have played the game...**

* * *

_**Chapter eleven: Into the Abyss**_

It was over. Dusknoir was defeated. Now, with that Pokémon out of the way (only when Kate released it into the skies and back to Haruba Desert), Kate and Kellyn could proceed to finish their covert objective, which was to bring the Yellow Gem to the Shadow Crystal's presence.

That is, if only Blake Hall wasn't finished with them.

"How does that feel," Kellyn breathed and still clutching his injured left arm, "to have your so-called great weapon 'just for us' and then was defeated? I'd say that it wasn't much of a challenge. I'll credit you that it was dangerous, but Kate and I have done much harder captures than that."

Kate brushed her hair aside and smiled. "Now _you_ are next."

Blake Hall stepped up to them, as if he wasn't intimidated. But then again, he wore sunglasses, so who could tell what kind of emotions he was showing? He didn't look like he was finished. Of course, the Incredible Machine was at Level 3, so why should he stop now?

"Very impressive," Blake complimented, but in an amused way that neither Kate nor Kellyn appreciated. "You've surpassed your renowned reputation that you've been carrying around: two Rank 9 Top Rangers who seem to get all the right things done from the day they started working together…"

_A trap_, Kate guessed.

"But you're sorely mistaken if you think you've won," Blake raised his hands.

"I thought so," Kate said, shrugging. "I suppose there's going to be a lot harder Pokémon behind your back or your hand. Dusknoir was just a piece of it."

"I'm not surprised," Kellyn rolled his eyes. "You've already got the Incredible Machine at Level 3. You have all the Pokémon you want to control. I wouldn't be surprised if you've got an army of Pokémon marching up here at this very moment to hunt us down –"

"Silence!" Blake snapped. "You… nailed it right, know-it-all Rangers. Yes, I've already won. Like you said, Kellyn, I have all the Pokémon I can control. So yes, it is physically impossible for me to lose now, do you understand?"

Physically, yes. But what about psychologically?

Kate snatched the precious item Kellyn had in his possession, without asking, and stood before Blake. At first Blake thought Kate was going for the frontal assault, but then he realised that she had something big, and bright, in her hands. It shined a brilliant light.

"What. What was that flash of light just now?!" Blake stared, his eyes narrowing.

But the only response was from an enigmatic Kate, who hid the item from Blake's sight. "I'll give you a couple of guesses, you know."

Blake, the Altru president, clenched his fists and demanded, "You… what are you hiding from me?! Answer now!"

"Guess…" Kate sang.

"Argh… tell me!"

"Look, Blake, I'll give you a hint," Kellyn stepped up beside his co-worker. "It starts with a 'y'."

It didn't take long, in fact a hundredth of a second, for Blake to piece everything together. It was like added one plus one. Yes, the Altru president was _that slow_ at thinking of what had, or what _was_, going on before him.

"THE YELLOW GEM?!" he yelled. In that instant he turned to Heath, no doubt. "Heath! Explain yourself and this madness. Now! If not…"

Heath scratched his head, under pressure. "Uh… we are meaning to reporting earlier, but we three are failing at protecting it. You know, yellow rock. Not thinking you will forgiving us, but… but you, sir, having that Pokémon already, so okay, I am hoping…"

That was more than enough to make Blake fume.

"Useless imbecile!" Blake fumed with anger, dissatisfaction, and possible failure. "It was crucial that we kept the three gems apart from each other! All we needed to retain was just one of them! You hear me?! ONLY ONE! Even if we keep just one, the Shadow Crystal can't be harmed! Did you not understand that any bit at all?!"

He took an intimidating step toward Heath, in which the latter fell on his back.

"You incompetents failed to protect both the Yellow Gem and the barrier, and now you're expecting that Pokémon to cover up for all your mistakes?! That takes some real nerve!" Blake angrily punished, and then he turned his back to Heath. "You don't even have the courage or even wits to run like the other two. Huh, you do have a lot of nerve to show your face when you failed once more!"

Heath was sweating badly. "But… but I staying here because I am so worrying about you, Boss…"

"Enough!" Blake shot, silencing Heath. "Save your worthless concerns! With the Incredible Machine under my control, all of Almia's Pokémon are my servants, save for the precious Pokémon of the Rangers before me –"

But Kate and Kellyn were even more puzzled at this Pokémon that was mentioned before them.

"What sort of Pokémon –" Kate started.

"NOT A CHANCE, HALL!" a familiar voice bellowed from above.

_What?_ Blake looked behind him. Eventually, Heath and Wheeler turned around to see where the voices came from. Kate and Kellyn, though, only needed to look up to see where the voices came from. Sure enough, it was from their airborne friends.

A couple of Staraptor flew in an orbiting circle above the tower's top. As they had the advantage of higher viewpoint, there also wasn't that much advantage of sound. There was one exception to this case, however.

"Hall!" Sven called down. "Even though we're flying way above your head, we can hear your raging from even up here! Have your lost your voice by now? Whatever. Kate and Kellyn, get ready! We'll put the finishing touches on Operation Brighton!"

"Yeah, guys!" Wendy raised a fist. "The three gems have to be brought as close as possible to the Shadow Crystal! Kate, whatever you do, try to get your Yellow Gem as close as possible to it! En garde, guys! Let's do this!"

Sven brought out the teardrop-shaped Blue Gem and raised it up in the air with its luminous blue light bringing out something of a sense of hope. Wendy did the same with the volcano-shaped Red Gem with its red glimmer lighting in the same way as the Blue Gem.

"This is it, folks!" Sven rallied.

"Staraptor, _we_ _are_ going in!" Wendy dived straight for the abomination of dark aura.

* * *

The Yellow Gem blasted away its light in front of Blake, Wheeler, and Heath. Kate held it up and prepared for a direct charge for the Shadow Crystal, with Kellyn, Grotle, Kirlia, and the Pachirisu's to back her up.

"You think that's clever, Rangers?!" Blake's eyes raged. "You leave me no choice. To answer your rudely interrupted question from earlier, Kate, that Pokémon you want to know about will be unleashed."

He turned back to his Incredible Machine and to the Circuit Ball. It seemed like a hopeful situation for the two Rangers (Kate and Kellyn), despite the Pokémon Blake was going to unleash. But the twosome's hopes dwindled at the sight of Blake's face, which was a happy one.

"Ah, what fortuitous timing, isn't it?!" he proclaimed. "Midnight has arrived, at last! On Altru's date of birth, let your presence be shown in all its dark glory! Now, awaken from the darkness!"

_He's insane… but what is he hiding?!_ Kate and Kellyn thought at the same time.

"_Rise_, my Darkrai!" Blake declared.

What the what, was basically the only words that could form a response to Blake's proclamation of his supposedly 'best' Pokémon, in the perspectives of Kate and Kellyn. As their thoughts progressed they stood before the Shadow Crystal which had begun its radiation of dark aura…

"Incoming voicemail!" Kate exclaimed, glancing at her Vatonage Fine Styler and getting Kellyn's attention at the same time. She opened the channel. "Who is it?"

"Is that Kate? And Kellyn? This is Hastings!" said the Pokémon professor. "We all know that the Incredible Machine's power has hit Level 3! As a result, the Pokémon all over Almia are in the worst states imaginable, or rather, unimaginable."

Kate and Kellyn grimaced, their faces a little depressed.

"However, all is not lost!" Professor Hastings' attitude was one that was intending to cheer up the Rangers. "Kellyn and Kate, thanks to your heroics, the Blue, Red, and Yellow Gems are in our hands. All that remains to be done is to take the three gems to the Shadow Crystal."

"Well, _that_ we understand," Kellyn pointed out.

"You, Kellyn, must awaken the light that is sealed within the darkness!" Hastings cheered.

Okay, now that got Kellyn's attention in a bad way.

"But why _me…_?!" Kellyn whined. "I can't handle the pressure!"

Hastings was aware of that, but his attitude had shifted to other matters. So, in that case, Kellyn remained silent and waited for Hastings to talk.

"Hmm…? Oh dear, an enormous power of some sort appears to be in motion there," Professor Hastings reported. "Perhaps something is trying to reach that location."

Feeling uncomfortable already, Kate dared to ask, "What… is it?"

"We don't know," Hastings admitted. "But one thing's for sure: be alert and be extra cautious!"

"Roger!" Kate and Kellyn replied, but Hastings was not finished.

"And… Be sure to return alive!" he added.

Silence, only broken by the sound of a switched-off voicemail, was what followed and had stunned the two Rangers' faces. _'Be sure to return alive!_'

Keywords: return alive, in capitals and in bold print: **RETURN ALIVE.**

The stunned faces of Kate and Kellyn stared at each other first, and then to Grotle and Kirlia, and then to their Pachirisu's. _To return __**ALIVE **_meant that the twosome's lives were on the line. With that in mind, it implicated they might not survive the campaign, or at least the entire operation.

Honestly, why did Hastings have to leave them with such gloomy and disheartening words, anyway? It had literally killed off the fragile morale Kate and Kellyn had in the first place!

* * *

Sven and Wendy, airborne, were diving from above in an effort to bring the Blue and Red Gems to the Shadow Crystal. But in the middle of the process their Staraptor had jerked away from the crystal and had begun to swerve in all sorts of directions in haywire. Sven was likewise.

"Argh! Help!" Sven shouted; his Staraptor flying in loops and upside-down. The Top Ranger still somehow managed to keep hold of the Blue Gem and his hat, but he was more concerned over the Staraptor's behaviour.

Wendy had her own problems, as she was trying to get a rein on her trusted Staraptor.

"Staraptor!" she screamed as her Staraptor flew up and down in very steep dives and rises. "What's wrong?! Be calm! Staraptor!"

* * *

Below, in the research room with the **DARK **matter (in capitals and in bold print), the vicinity began to shake uncontrollably. The researchers were panicking left and right as the **DARK** matter started to rise. The black Gigaremoes keeping it at bay began to shake as well. Finally, after a series of rumblings, two Gigaremoes around the ring exploded, followed by two adjacent Gigaremoes exploded, followed by the fifth and sixth Gigaremoes exploding, and finally the seventh Gigaremo exploding into a crumpled heap.

The **DARK **matter (in capitals and in bold print) rose into the air… and tore a hole through the wall.

"What did you do?!" Kellyn shouted in panic.

Blake, finally satisfied by the looks of two terror-stricken Rangers, replied, "The Pokémon that stores the energy of darkness within its body… That Pokémon is Darkrai. It is the most beloved of all my Pokémon!"

_Darkrai…_ Kate thought.

**The unmistakable sound of a tearing wall followed Kate's thoughts.**

Heath and Wheeler were just as surprised, and they stepped aside.

"Ehehehehehe!" Wheeler cackled.

But that didn't worry Kate and Kellyn most, neither Wheeler nor the sound of the tearing wall. What really worried them was what was going on in front of them.

In the large space behind Blake Hall, an abyss of pitch-black darkness had formed and spread massively before coming to a halt. Within that darkness, a Pokémon controlled by the Incredible Machine rose from the darkness' core. It was Darkrai.

"WHAT?!" Kate and Kellyn were stopped frozen in fear.

"I'm glad you like it," Blake murmured. "Go on, Darkrai! Invite these hero-fixated children to your world of darkness as you so please!"

The Altru president stepped around his 'beloved' Darkrai and fixed his attention to the Incredible Machine and the Circuit Ball to give direct commands. The response from Darkrai was a struggling series of speech.

Wheeler cackled once more as the Pokémon representing all things dark glided toward the two Rangers. Kate and Kellyn prepared their Stylers for the inevitable capture, but that was not what Blake or Darkrai had in mind.

Instead, by the time Darkrai was suddenly upon the twosome, it was already too late.

"WHOA!" Kate screamed, as Kellyn yelled.

What Darkrai had in mind was to actually plunge Kate and Kellyn into the pool of darkness it had just created. Darkrai raised its arms, vibrated power, and brought the two Rangers _and_ their Pokémon into the swallowing pit.

Kate and Kellyn tried to fight or swim against it, but there were being dragged in…

"Pachirisu!" Kate choked out the words. "Get out of here!"

"Grotle! Kirlia!" Kellyn also choked, his body being compressed by the force of darkness.

Kirlia looked like she wanted to teleport them out, but couldn't due to the power of darkness brought upon her by Darkrai. Kellyn, aware of that, used whatever strength he could to push Kirlia to the edge of the pit, as well as Grotle.

"Help her," he urged Grotle, in which the grove Pokémon complied. Kellyn looked to his Pachirisu, telling, "You go too."

Kate, on the other hand, urged her Pachirisu to follow Grotle and Kirlia to safety, whispering, "It's my duty as a Pokémon Ranger to preserve peace, the environment, and Pokémon. That includes _you_ too Pachirisu!"

Grotle and Kirlia, knowing Kellyn very well, got out of the dark pit as quickly as they could. It was fortunate they had gotten out early, because they saw that Kate and Kellyn were being dragged even deeper into the pit, and it seemed at this likely point in time that it was hopeless for them to get out.

Including the Pachirisu's who refused to leave the side of their Rangers.

"Why, Pachirisu…?" Kellyn and Kate said with a tear. "Go!"

Too late. Kate and Kellyn were now in the middle of the pit, and if either Pachirisu tried to jump off now, they would be dragged back into the pit and sink in. The drama was interrupted by the voice of Blake Hall, which sounded triumphant.

"Rangers!" he said. "Go! Into the world of darkness!"

Wheeler cackled again.

In a rapid speed, Kate and Kellyn began to sink into the darkness's core. Kate screamed as Kellyn panicked. It wouldn't be long now before they could stay alive. The darkness had reached their knees and hips already…

Kellyn made eye contact with Grotle and Kirlia for just the briefest instant. In them, he saw they were just simply heartbroken to see their long-time friend, who had dragged them across the entire Almia region, to be sinking into a pool of infinite darkness.

_See you later, guys_, Kellyn thought. He knew that Kirlia would have likely picked up the thought from the distance. Kirlia, though, looked like she wanted to refuse the thought.

It made Kellyn feel a little better to know that they were safe, and it felt just as good to know that Pachirisu wouldn't leave his side. Kate felt the identical way when her Pachirisu chose not to leave her either.

The two Rangers made the desperate attempt to force their way upward, but it did no good. Instead, there was only a constant force pushing them down further into the pit. Whenever Kate or Kellyn tried to 'swim' their way up, it only felt like there were pushing against empty space. At that point the darkness had reached past their stomachs and it wouldn't be long until it had swallowed their heads and Stylers…

"KATE!" a voice yelled overhead.

Suddenly Kate was snatched in an instant, surprising Blake, Heath, and Wheeler.

On a Staraptor, Kate opened her eyes to see that her rescuer was, to some extent of surprise, Keith. She looked to her side to see that Pachirisu was fine, although frightened, but fine nonetheless.

"That's – that's very nice of you Keith," Kate said in a timid voice. "But wait! What about Kellyn?! He's still sinking, you know!"

"Oops, I nearly forgot about him," Keith said as if he really had forgotten about Kellyn. To make Kate's point very clear, they looked to the darkened pit so see that Kellyn wasn't there anymore. Just an outstretched arm was piercing through the darkness, and attached to that arm was a Vatonage Styler. Keith steered his Staraptor towards the sinking arm, stretched his own hand to grab Kellyn's hand, and used the Staraptor's momentum to pull Kellyn out without using so much effort.

Kate helped Kellyn onto the Staraptor as Keith dropped them off onto the tower pinnacle. She looked at her co-worker and, judging from his facial expression, looked as if he had come back from the dead. And in a way, he did.

She laid Kellyn on the ground, and then Kate herself collapsed on her knees out of pressure and tension, as the Top Ranger herself had come out of the very same pit.

Kate stared at Keith. "You're supposed to be MIA (missing in action)! Where have you been?!"

Keith forced a laugh. "Made it back in time, didn't I? That attack sent me flying to the Vien Forest Lookout Ridge! Believe it or not, the guy with the snack cart and his mom had to wake me up."

"_R –really…?_" a weak voice rasped, startling Keith and Kate.

"Kellyn! You look better than ever!" Keith joked, with gave Kellyn an even more weakened expression. Keith scoffed. "You look starved too, now that I think of it. Here."

Keith reached into one of his side pockets and snatched a small bar. He tossed it to Kellyn, who caught it and tore open the bar. It was, basically, a food ration of a single stick of biscuit and some spices. Although Kellyn and Kate had one in their pockets already, they had forgotten about it.

"I'll leave the rest of my story until this is done," Keith stated. "Hey, I got here late, but I'll make up for it now with an all-out effort! Come on, I insist!"

"And just how do you intend to do that," Kate raised her eyebrows and her arms crossed.

"Easy!" Keith replied. "Kate! Let me have the Yellow Gem!"

Kate looked at Kellyn, who was resting, for a moment before disclosing the Yellow Gem with its brilliant light to Keith. Keith took it and flew upward.

"I'll join up with Sven and Wendy now. Let's be safe, for all of us!" Keith shouted and flew away, leaving Kate and Kellyn with Darkrai and Blake. Kellyn and Kate with the Pachirisu's, now reunited with Grotle and Kirlia, were just as fired up as ever.

Blake was anything but himself.

"Blasted Rangers... I'll make you regret to have taken up arms against me!" he angrily said.

With that he turned around to face the Circuit Ball, his back to Darkrai and the Rangers, saying, "The Incredible Machine actually has another level of power beyond Level 3! The one and only ultimate forbidden level… Level Dark!"

Kate and Kellyn, still fired up, actually took a step back. Nevertheless, they weren't afraid.

Wheeler, however, was. He ran closer to his employer, just behind Darkrai.

"Yikes! Mr. President, sir! Not that! You mustn't do that!" Wheeler shouted. "You've said it yourself: there is no telling what Level Dark will bring about!"

"Quiet! I will not be spoken to like that!" the Altru president shot. "I will not be stopped!"

Heath also took back. "B-Boss… Even me, I am not following you anymore. No more, I cannot…"

Eventually, the inevitable happened. The crescendo of a powering-up machine began to accelerate faster and faster, with Blake Hall activating his controls on the Circuit Ball in an attempt to bring the maximum output of power the Incredible Machine could handle. If not extending control to the borders of Almia, it might extend its influence to the rest of the world.

"I don't understand it," Kellyn said, worried. "I thought Sven and Wendy should have been down here by now, let alone Keith. Why haven't they?"

"I agree," Kate added. "This might be the end if they don't get here soon! I mean, come on! There's a _DARKRAI_ right in front of us for crying out loud!"

A magnitude the equivalent of an 8.0 earthquake threw them off their feet, along with Kirlia, and landed flat on the ground. The Ranger duo lifted their heads up in the shaking mess to see Heath and Wheeler also on the ground. Blake, on the other hand, was standing strong. An air raid siren began to wail and Darkrai was looking as if the dark power within itself, fuelled with the monumental backing of the Incredible Machine, was just about to explode in an unimaginable scale.

With the Level Dark transition in progress, the three green gauges that represented Level 3 beside the Circuit Ball (identical to the ones Isaac had told Kate and Kellyn about earlier) were flashing an intimidating red.

Now, the violent rumbling stopped and the siren stopped wailing. Kate and Kellyn were finally able to stand up again, with Kate helping Kirlia with a pull of her arm (the Pachirisu's and Grotle, with a much lower center of gravity, didn't fall over. They faced Blake once more, who had walked in front of Darkrai with a triumphant face.

"This is it!" he proclaimed. "Level Dark! The only power known to the beyond as infinite darkness! My Darkrai… your age of darkness has come. But there is a job you must first complete in order for that to happen. Swat down the annoying pests flying overhead!"

Darkrai made a response, and Blake assumed that it complied. Kate, however, was more concerned about the Darkrai's well-being, and Kellyn was more concerned about his fellow friends in the sky. What if Darkrai went up there now? Could he and Kate be able to stop it?

The first thing Darkrai did was fly into the air, much to the Rangers' dismay and Blake's satisfaction. But the second thing Darkrai did was expanding the pool of pitch-black darkness. It expanded to the point where it had reached Wheeler's feet, and Wheeler suddenly became aware of that.

"Yikes!" Wheeler called out, trying to fight against the drag of being pulled in. "Mr. President, sir! Help me!"

Blake whipped around, but retreated. "D-Darkrai?! What is the meaning of this?! Stop it! Stop this foolishness now! I demand you! I am your master! Stop!"

Instead the pool of darkness kept on expanding where it neared Heath's feet. As for Wheeler, the Altru president's assistant was brought into the abyss' core, and began to sink right into the middle. Wheeler was beyond help now.

"Mr. President!" he screamed once more, still sinking very quickly.

Blake and Heath watched helplessly as Wheeler's entire head had sunk underneath the surface of darkness and into the abyss.

KABOOM

Behind Darkrai, the Circuit Ball that was supposed to be the controlling directive for the Incredible Machine, every Pokémon in Almia, and Darkrai had exploded into hundreds of fragments leaving an empty space. Clearly, there was no stopping Darkrai now.

The Pokémon of all things dark had descended onto the ground, and the frequently expanding abyss contracted and became a smaller pool of darkness once more. Wheeler was gone.

"…Mr. Wheeler!" Heath said with a speechless face, and with sweat dripping down from in front, the sides, and the back of his head. "No more! I no want this! I going home to the country!"

Heath, frightened of what could happen next, fled downstairs at such a speed that even Kate and Kellyn were surprised at the rate, given Heath's mass and size. Blake watched in terror as the remaining member of the Sinis Trio ran away.

"Heath! Wait!" he called after him. "Stay! I can make you the next president! Don't go…"

Unbeknownst to Blake, Darkrai glided to his back dragging the pit of darkness with it. The Pokémon rose into the air not unlike the attempt before, and began to expand the pit of darkness into an ever-growing abyss.

* * *

**Everyone should know what's going to come up next...! I'm just going to leave you hanging here for now. :)**


	12. Shadows of Almia

**Here it is: the building climax to the entire point of the game, where no Fanfiction writer will ever go to: the Shadows of Almia.**

**This chapter continues the Operation Brighton series, as usual, and focuses on "Execute Operation Brighton!"**

**Disclaimer: I snuck in a few lines from the Pokemon Ranger Vatonage manga somewhere in here.**

* * *

_**Chapter twelve: Shadows of Almia**_

All this was happening before Kate's eyes and Kellyn's eyes. First the rise of Darkrai, then Wheeler's imprisonment, and now the expanding abyss was dragging Blake Hall into its core…

"Darkrai?" for once the only thing that showed on Blake's face was confusion and… fear. "What are you doing? The Ranger is that way!"

He made an effort to walk out, and then swimming out, of the darkness, but a force kept pulling him in. Blake found it useless to try to fight it off, and yelled, "Stop this, Darkrai! Don't! Don't pull me into the darkness! Darkra…"

Blake Hall began sinking into the abyss, despite his pleas.

"Stop! Please! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled out as his entire body, and finally his head, was below the surface and in the abyss. "Ranger! Save me!"

Blake Hall, the Altru president who had done so much to harness the power of darkness and the Pokémon of darkness itself, was defeated by his own efforts. Victory, ironically, had defeated him.

Oh, the irony.

And furthermore, with the swallowing of Blake and Wheeler into the abyss, the abyss contracted and swelled into a smaller pit once more and another earthquake-like rumbling shook the entire Altru Tower.

* * *

Even though it was supposed to be a night raid, as was planned when the Rangers had begun their frontal assault of the Altru Building's entrance, it felt like there was zero visibility available to the airborne Sven, Wendy, and Keith when they looked to Altru Tower. Initially, they still had some means of light thanks to the building lights below, but now it seemed impossible to see the tower.

The two Top Rangers above had been encircling the top for some time. Having finally regained control of their Staraptors at last, they could stop themselves from falling.

"Darkness!" Sven shouted whilst viewing what was before him. "Spreading around the tower! There is zero-vis around the tower. I don't think we can actually get to the Crystal if the darkness is there, it's going to act like another barrier!"

"I hear you!" Wendy confirmed, flying beside her co-worker. "I can't see the Shadow Crystal anymore! Darkrai, Kate, Kellyn, and everyone else are in that darkness…"

Keith, meanwhile, was flying a distance closer to Altru Tower than that of Sven and Wendy. "Kate! Kellyn! Can you hear me?! What's going on down there?!"

In short, he was dead worried.

* * *

Looking left and right, Kate and Kellyn knew that they were all alone.

"Blake wasn't kidding when you assumed that an army of Pokémon is coming to hunt us down," Kellyn said. "I can hear them getting closer, so what should we do?"

To Kate, the answer was obvious.

"We have to subdue the Shadow Crystal and continue Operation Brighton as planned," she said, thinking of numerous possibilities and could only find one in particular that was outstanding. "In order to do that, we have to capture that Darkrai, otherwise the three gems will never have a chance of getting close to it."

"Now that you mention it," Kellyn understood and thought of his own ideas, "the Incredible Machine can't be controlling Darkrai anymore, let alone the Pokémon below us. So what would be the only source of control? It's the Shadow Crystal, of course."

They walked closer to Darkrai, and Kate and Kellyn could only manage to hear distant words…

"Mr. Presi… where is… …Wheeler is… help…"

"Wheel…you…where is… I… only dark…can't see…"

"I, Wheeler… what is…up… down…can't tell…awful…"

"Is this…nightmare…? Please…Ranger …elp…help!"

The sounds were far away and distant, yet so close to them. Kate and Kellyn needed only one guess to determine who they were. Darkrai was silent.

"Then let's do this," Kate said. "It's time to finish this before the army of Pokémon finishes us!"

Inspired by Kate's encouraging words, the twosome rushed to Darkrai with their Vatonage Stylers raised, Pachirisu's helping them and Grotle and Kirlia not far behind. Kate and Kellyn stood a safe distance and held up their Styler arms.

"Capture… on!"

Their Capture Discs shot off into the distance.

* * *

"Watch it!" Kate warned.

The moment the action began Darkrai teleported in front of the Top Rangers and launched a shocking quake. The vibrating waves expanded and then dissipated after a certain distance. If anyone were to have been touched by the wave, it would have thrown them off their feet, let alone sustaining damage.

For Kate and Kellyn, the only sensible action was to jump over the wave. Kellyn jumped sideways while Kate did a backflip. Kirlia only had to teleport away to avoid it, but Grotle had to take the hit. Fortunately, at the safe distance Grotle was standing at, the worst he felt was a minor ripple near his feet.

"Go!" Kellyn aimed his Vatonage Styler to Darkrai. The Capture Disc soared around Darkrai and drew the Capture Line around it a few times, but…

"What?!" Kellyn stared. "I can't capture it!"

It appeared that the Capture Line was being _repelled_ by Darkrai somehow. To make matters worse, when Kellyn looked at his Friendship Gauge the bar was not being filled, in spite of seeing the Capture Line trapping Darkrai before him. On top of it all, though, whenever Kellyn completed one loop of the Capture Line the Line would disintegrate into particles of energy and blast away.

CRACK

A series of black projectiles shot from Darkrai shattered the Capture Line, and as a result it violently damaged the Vatonage Styler. His arm undergoing pain, Kellyn breathlessly watched his Styler energy deplete.

"Poké Assist Electric!" Kate shouted. "Pachirisu!"

Kate waved for Kellyn to retreat as she stepped forward. She guided her Capture Disc to draw the Capture Line around Darkrai, hoping that the Vatonage Fine Styler she was using would do its part. First she used the electric-empowered Capture Line to land a bolt beside Darkrai, stunning it, and then Kate swung her first two fingers to draw the Capture Line.

To her disbelief and astonishment, the Capture Line did seem to look like it was being repelled by some force. Although Kate could clearly see the Line was really circling Darkrai, she could also see the Capture Line disperse into energy and being pushed away for every circle the Capture Disc completed.

"I'll do a charge capture!" Kate focused energy into the Vatonage Fine Styler. The Capture Disc began to power up and Kate launched a charged-up line in Darkrai's direction.

Still, when Kate finished a loop, the charged Capture Line dissolved and burst into fragments of molecular-sized energy particles.

"Watch out, Kate!" Kellyn shouted.

But it was already too late when Kellyn had given his warning. Besides, Darkrai had appeared between the Rangers and launched another shocking quake. The wave spread quickly and made the Vatonage Styler and its younger brother sustain an impact of damage. Furthermore, the impact blasted Kate and Kellyn into the air, if not their Pachirisu's.

"Nooooo!" Kate cried.

The two Top Rangers, ranked 9 and were considered to be among the Ranger Union's elite, were defeated by Darkrai. It was that simple. They were thrown to the lower ground in cartwheeling flip. Mere seconds later, they fell in a humiliating and painful crash on their backs.

* * *

"Kellyn!" Kate ran over to her co-worker.

Incredibly, Kate seemed to have had a softer impact than Kellyn did. Mainly, because the arc that Kate travelled in was slightly lower than Kellyn's. She was first to recover and was able to get back on her feet too. With one hand, she hauled Kellyn back up.

"I'm… I'm fine," Kellyn whispered. "I have Kirlia to help me –"

Kellyn fell to his knees, which prompted Kate (after some hesitation) to get down on one knee in front of him to see what was going on.

"I can't," Kellyn shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Kate stared at him, her face a little unsure.

When Kellyn lifted up his head to look at Kate's, all that Kate could see in his eyes were nothing but worry. There wasn't much bravery left to show on Kellyn's face. On the contrary, there was only weariness and defeat.

"I can't think of what to do. There's Darkrai, but even though he's in front of us, what do we do?" Kellyn questioned. "There's an army of Pokémon coming up for us. If Darkrai was just a wild Pokémon, we could capture him to help us. If he was controlled by the Gigaremo or Miniremo, we could just free him with our Vatonage Styler capabilities…"

Kate's facial expression changed from a stare into a glare and waited for Kellyn to finish.

_What are you talking about, Kellyn?_ Kate thought.

"But what about a Pokémon controlled by the Shadow Crystal?!" Kellyn shouted in frustration. "Will capturing even work?! It won't! We just tried it! Our Vatonage Stylers couldn't get the job done, and not even charge capturing would work! That Darkrai, with overwhelming support of the powers of the Shadow Crystal, won't be stopped! In short, that Darkrai has closed up its mind!"

"ENOUGH, KELLYN!" Kate yelled in his face, which made Kellyn look to her in a crushed way. "SCREW THAT!"

She seized Kellyn's arm, not his hand, and ran over to Darkrai. A safe distance away, they stopped to see a suspended Darkrai still levitating where it was.

"Kellyn," suddenly Kate's voice became softer. "No matter if we fail or not, we would be the first ones to beat a Mission like this. At least it's worth a shot!"

* * *

High above the tower pinnacle, a few Staraptor were still maintaining their circle above the Shadow Crystal. Sven, Wendy, and Keith flew to see the darkness surrounding the Shadow Crystal was expanding from around Altru Tower to the space around it. Inconveniently, the darkness' growth was very quick.

"It's gathered darkness here!" Sven reported, bringing his Staraptor to a standstill. "Visibility is down to zero! No, there's nothing much to see around here now. Is that Darkrai really defending the Shadow Crystal?"

Wendy flew beside Sven to stop too. "We can't get close to the Shadow Crystal like this! Besides, we can't continue to keep flying for long! Our Staraptor are getting tired!"

Keith was last to stop moving. "Are Kate and Kellyn all right? I want to help them, but I can't! Darn it! Is the operation a failure?!"

"Come on, Keith, let's be honest here," Sven looked behind. "We _all_ want to help them too. But you have a point there: there has to be some way to help Kate and Kellyn and to keep the operation from getting compromised –"

**A luminous blue flash ringed the skies like a beacon of hope.**

"What?" Sven looked at the Blue Gem he was holding. "Hey! The –the gems started shining!"

**A red expansion of light burst from Wendy's hands.**

"This is… It's the same as those pendants," Wendy said as she looked at the Red Gem she held, and remembering what happened before at the Ranger Union (don't remember? Look back at the opening paragraphs of chapter 4!).

**Keith followed suit and brought out an explosion of yellow light.**

"It's as if the light is searching for something!" Keith observed.

One by one, the lights soared downward into the darkness surrounding Altru Tower. The blue light came first, then the red light, and finally the yellow light.

* * *

Kate's voice remained in its softened tone, which made it easier for Kellyn to look at her. "This is probably one of the hardest and the greatest Missions we have ever done in our career. As Pokémon Rangers, we do our best to preserve Pokémon-and-human relations and the peace of Almia, right? Tonight, this is exactly what we are going to do. It may seem hopeless, but we always have a way to finish the Mission, right?"

Kellyn was just about to speak when Kate looked upward. "Oh!"

His attention shifted to see three lights speeding down toward him from the sky. For a tenth of a second, Kate, Grotle, and Kirlia were worried. But they recognised it as the same three lights of the gems they encountered during their venture across Almia.

From a general perspective, the three lights backed by the three gems began to react with the Vatonage Styler equipped on Kellyn's arm.

It was a marvel for the Rangers and the Pokémon to see the lights circling in a brilliant radiance. The Top Rangers, Grotle, and Kirlia frequently looked left and right to see the rotating lights while the Pachirisu's jumped up and down at the sight.

Then the lights stayed for a moment in suspense.

And then… they simultaneously poured into the Vatonage Styler.

_Whoa…_ the Rangers thought.

The lights, originating and supported from the ancient gems, transferred into the three tiny pendants inside the Vatonage Styler, and the pendants themselves became infused with power. Power unlike every single other vibrated through the Styler, and Kellyn felt it…

Kate took charge.

"Looks like the Pokémon the then Incredible Machine was controlling are still coming after us," Kate said. "I'll handle them! You go find some precious quality time with capturing Darkrai! Pachirisu, you go with them!"

Her Pachirisu smiled and scurried to Kellyn's side. Kellyn, in turn, ordered Grotle and Kirlia to help Kate's side.

"There's a chance, a very small one, that we might not make it back that easily," he told them. "Besides, if you help out Kate, maybe all of our lives will be much easier."

Grotle and Kirlia nodded and followed Kate down the stairs. Kellyn and the Pachirisu's turned to face Darkrai, and this time with a gem-backed Vatonage Styler to help them.

* * *

Gliscors, Rhydons, Vaporeons, and virtually every Pokémon inside Altru Tower and the building below were marching their way towards the stairs. Fortunately, they hadn't even started climbing the stairs, but they were located in the particular room where Isaac was trapped in.

The very fortunate circumstance was that Kate had the advantage of high ground, but the disadvantage was that there were two sets of stair. Kate, Grotle, and Kirlia would have to run from stair to stair to keep the Pokémon from rising. On the stairs, this would be where Kate would make her stand.


	13. Kate's Holdout

**You didn't think I would have just jumped to the climax of the operation, right? I've got to give Kate some credit too.**

**Thanks to Eeveeleah, for continuing to read this story!**

**This chapter, though completely original and unofficial, still is a part of the Operation Brighton series.**

* * *

_**Chapter thirteen: Kate's Holdout**_

"Here they come!" Kate warned Grotle and Kirlia.

The Pokémon consisting of Gliscors, Rhydons, Arcanines, Scizors, Absols, Gengars, and Vaporeons were slowing making their way up the stairs. Due to elevated high ground: to run up the stairs would mean complete exhaustion, so the malicious Pokémon would have to slowly climb up.

"Remember, guys," Kate reminded. "There's a chance we might not win this since there are so many Pokémon heading up. Our primary objective is to buy as much time for Kellyn, am I clear?"

Grotle and Kirlia, judging by their expressions and responses, had never felt so ready. After all, the future of Almia was at stake. As much as the two Pokémon would like to stay with Kellyn, they knew that they would be of little use if an army of Pokémon had overwhelmed the tower. So they opted to, as Kellyn said, to assist Kate with the holdout.

"However," Kate also reminded, with a more serious edge, "as a Pokémon Ranger I am not allowed by any means to harm the Pokémon attacking us. The best you can do is to keep them at bay, in other words stalling them, while I capture them. Okay?"

Grotle was already at work to making a makeshift barricade of tightly weaved grass and vines on one of the two platforms that needed to be passed in order to climb up the second flight of stairs leading to the tower pinnacle. Meanwhile, Kate and Kirlia were off on the other side to meet the first group of Pokémon. For either Kate and Kirlia or Grotle it was excruciating to hurry down the stairs in an attempt to get as close to the Pokémon as possible while keeping a safe distance away, and also to prevent themselves from falling _and_ to get enough to prepare what was coming for them.

* * *

From Kate's view, she could see the Rhydons trying to climb up, but due to the stairs' steepness and the Rhydons' mass, it was very slow for them to climb up. So Kate targeted them first.

"Capture on!" she fired her Vatonage Fine Styler.

The Capture Line soared right behind where the Capture Disc was flying at. Aiming at where the Rhydons were marching up, Kate directed the Capture Line to circle one of them and captured a few of them before turning her attention to the other Pokémon.

"Kirlia! Go and see how Grotle is doing!" she ordered.

In the next instant, Kirlia was teleporting up the stairs space by space.

* * *

Although Grotle did his best to create the barricade of leaves and vines, it was just barely enough to hold against the Scizors' slices. Grotle had to often reinforce the barricade with hedges, tall grass, and such to keep holding the line. Grotle alone could feel increasingly tired as more energy was expended on making the barricade effective.

Kirlia appeared on the step beside Grotle. She was wearing an expression that sent the message "_Do you need any help?_"

The response Kirlia got from Grotle was a series of leaves aimed at the barricade, followed by vines and hedges to keep the barricade up. Kirlia assumed that that was a 'yes'. She warped away afterward to find Kate.

* * *

"Capture complete – at least over there," Kate said breathlessly. She had managed to keep half the Rhydons from coming up, but the problem was that it was only the Rhydons who had been captured and not the other Pokémon. Kate sighed and swung her fingers to keep the Capture Line up.

Despite her sigh, Kate remained adamantly focused on her Capture. The VN Program installed in her Styler should never be a waste, and she certainly wasn't going to let it be destroyed so simply in a regular capture. Allowing the Styler to be destroyed in a capture of powerful Pokémon like Rhyperior, Drapion, and Lucario was one loss with some dignity. But to allow the Styler to be destroyed by regular Pokémon like the ones Kate was facing below her had no dignity at all.

She really wasn't going to let the Vatonage Fine Styler be defeated like that.

Vaporeons were among the fastest to hike up the stairs. Water Guns attempted to swamp Kate from where she was, but due to high ground the water torrent didn't reach that far. It only managed to hit the stairs instead. Furthermore, it made the steps more slippery and so was harder to climb up.

_Good, there's some advantage here!_ Kate thought, guiding the Capture Disc around a Vaporeon and swiped a capture out of it.

And then Kate saw them.

Several Gliscors were flying her way!

_Oh, dear…_ Kate thought, and redirected her Styler arm and fingers in the airborne Pokémon's direction. Earth tremors shook the stairs beneath Kate and by every right she should have fallen down. But as she started to fall to her demise –

An arm wrapped around her wrist and pulled her up before Kate could tumble. After regaining control of her balance and center of gravity she looked to see who or what had exactly stopped her. Looking behind, she saw Kirlia using two arms to pull Kate back.

"Agh! Thank you, Kirlia!" Kate fell back a little to stop herself from falling once more, let go of Kirlia's arms, and returned her focus to capture the Gliscors first and foremost.

The Capture Disc spun around one Gliscor in rapid circles until the Capture Line was working at its most efficient rate. Kate knew that Gliscors were not easy to capture in one swoop, so she was going to have to be careful.

"Ouch!" she cried when her Vatonage Styler shook violently on her arm. The Capture Line had shattered by a slice of Gliscor's claws and was now still flying up the high ground. It looked perfectly hopeless for Kate, now that half a dozen Gliscor were flying up.

She whipped her Styler arm at the initial Gliscor once more, although the said Gliscor was considerably closer to her than before…

SNAP

A force like a whip had sent most of Gliscors downward. The force was invisible and Kate couldn't tell at first where it came from. What Kate did know at an instant was that it had put off some pressure while she was capturing, given that there were a lot more slow-moving Pokémon below who didn't have the advantage of flight nor agility.

Kate realised that, looking down, she saw Kirlia raising her arms and emitting psychic power (Kate could notice this in the psychic Pokémon's eyes). With that in mind, she used it to her advantage to divert her Capture Disc from the first Gliscor to the other Gliscors. In short, Kate was going to attempt a group capture.

The Capture Line extended in a long boundary in Kate's attempt to capture three Gliscor at once. Since the Gliscors were a little knocked out, Kate managed to capture the three of them after fifteen seconds of rapid capturing. For Kirlia, she contributed to the effort by holding the Rhydons below at bay with psychic confusions. The confusions weren't harmful alone, but it was enough to make the Pokémon tumble down the stairs, and in turn would get all the Pokémon behind to fall over too.

It gave time for Kate to catch a breather.

"So how's Grotle doing?" Kate asked the Pokémon.

"_Kir… Kirlia!_" Kirlia expressed. Kate, as a Pokémon Ranger, depicted what she was trying to say. In the end it left Kate worried.

"I'll get to him right away!" Kate shouted, beginning to hurry up the stairs. "Just try your best to hold off the Pokémon with minor confusions, okay?"

Kirlia needn't be told twice and stood to look down at the army of Pokémon messily climbing up the stairs. Behind her, Kate was skipping steps to get to the other side.

* * *

FSSSSSSSSSSSHH

A roar of flame severely burned down two layers of the barricade Grotle had made. The unfortunate circumstance was that there were Arcanines leaping up the steps to get to the top. The only roadblock they ran into was Grotle's barricade.

The Arcanines' responses? They opened fire (like, _real_ fire!) on the grass barricade. Grotle had some means of advantage to erect tall grass in front and beneath the Pokémon as a way to slow them down. Indeed, the tall grass _did_ slow down movement and prevented extensive damage to the barricade, but the barricade was getting burned nevertheless.

Grotle didn't need to be reminded that his barricade, although thick, had two layers burned down already. In short, the grove Pokémon had to multitask: to constantly repair the barricade and to slow down the movements of incoming Pokémon. If Grotle really had to, he would attack the Pokémon. But he hoped that didn't need to happen: it would leave too wide of a gap for the Pokémon to get through as well as violating the conducts of Pokémon Rangers.

"Just hold the line a bit, Grotle! I'll be right there!" a familiar feminine voice encouraged from above.

Grotle perked up. Finally. Reinforcements.

As he expected, a Capture Disc flew over his head and over the barricade to target one of the Arcanines. The Capture Line extended to encircle the Arcanine enough times until it managed to cease drawing, and at that point Kate had captured one of the Arcanines.

The grove Pokémon, meanwhile, had spent his time building up the dense barricade of grass, vines, and leaves. More grass, however, was expended on inconvenient parts of the stairs to the Pokémon couldn't simply run up the stairs. It was effective especially against the Vaporeons climbing their way up, let alone the others.

Kate's focus more or less remained on the Arcanines who posed the largest threat to not only herself and Grotle but to Kellyn as well. With that in mind, she targeted those Pokémon first even she had captured one already.

_I could charge capture, but that would take so much more time to power up and could be dangerous despite having the high ground,_ Kate dully thought, but worked through the conditions. Nevertheless, having high ground was useful since she had a better view of the hostile Pokémon she was going to capture at least.

She held her breath for nearly a minute at the sight of the Arcanines preparing and firing searing flames upward. The fire, so full of power, blasted in a straight line and up the stairs, where it hit the barricade and burned it further.

Still, Kate kept her eyes on those very Pokémon and pointed her Styler fingers to enclose another one. Another Arcanine was captured and soon released.

_That barricade won't last long with all the Arcanines closing in!_ Kate worriedly thought. Quickly as she could, she individually aimed to capture each Arcanine and at the same time utilized charge capturing to maintain optimal effectiveness.

_Oh no…_ she thought, and saw the Arcanines preparing what looked like Fire Blasts!

"Fall back, Grotle!" Kate ordered.

Grotle didn't need another warning as he ran back up to higher ground. Once he and Kate did, a rocketing sound pierced through his barricade and burned it halfway down. Fortunately, the other half of the barricade was only scorched. So…

"Keep that barricade up!" Kate cheered, and progressed to finish her remaining captures of the Arcanines. With the threat of Arcanines out of the way, Grotle took heed and went on to keep building the grass-and-vine barricade, as well as continuing to sprout tall grass on the steps to slow down the Pokémon as much as possible.

Kate on the other hand ran back up the stairs to find Kirlia.

* * *

For Kirlia, things weren't going so well.

When Kate left, Kirlia only had to worry about confusing the Gliscors and Rhydons and in turn made them fall down the steps. The initial plan for Kirlia was to push them further down the steps, but later on they were reinforced by Gengars and Scizors; Pokémon that Kirlia feared and had a disadvantage against.

The Gengars' pressure was such that Kirlia had to fall back to much higher ground to prevent personal harm. Although she managed to make a Scizor collide with a Gengar and knocked them out, they were overall gaining better positions and dangerously nearing the platform.

She wondered how much longer she could hold them off before being relieved.

Another Scizor flew up and landed on Kirlia's position, effectively surprising her and knocked her aside. Kirlia looked up to see that she had a Gengar staring evilly at her. Feeling helpless, Kirlia used her teleport capabilities to warp back onto the platform.

"Capture on!"

She didn't need to turn around to know who said that, nor was she distracted at all from what she was doing. On the contrary, Kirlia felt renewed focus and tried even harder to focus her psychic energy to push back the Pokémon again.

Sadly, as Kate kept capturing, Kate and Kirlia realised that there were simply too many Pokémon coming up from their perspective. For every Pokémon Kate captured, two more would replace it. The best Kirlia could do to help at this point was to keep pushing back the Pokémon…

For Kate, it was hard work to make tens of successful captures.

For Kirlia, it took a lot of energy to focus her mind on confusing tens of Pokémon.

For Grotle, it was exhausting to hold off an entire riot using grass power alone.

Seeing that the quick-moving Pokémon posed the biggest threat now, Kate switched her attention to Pokémon like Vaporeon and Raichu. She was surprised that she hadn't sustained a lot of Styler damage in all the chaos.

"Two Pokémon down, and hundreds to go…" Kate said to herself. She looked to her side at Kirlia, who looked just at the verge of fainting from using all that mental power (unlike Grotle, who could withstand physical conditions for much, _much_, longer).

"Kirlia. Fall back to high ground and get a short break," Kate told her. "I hate to admit it, but I don't think we can win this half of the stairs without Grotle, but we don't want him to lose the other half either. Just back him up after your break. I'll try to hold them off myself."

Kirlia nodded and slowly climbed up the stairs. Kate turned around to face the Pokémon coming up the stairs once more. They were far away, but that didn't mean they couldn't make it up…

* * *

Several minutes later, Grotle's barricade was now being pounded by the hostile Pokémon.

He tried his best to slow down the raging Scizors and Absols ripping away at the barricade. True, the tall grass really did slow them down long enough to make their movement speed cut to half, but the Pokémon still reached the barricade in the end. Fortunately, the barricade was thick enough that it couldn't be destroyed easily, so that bought precious minutes for the pinnacle's safety.

From Grotle's view, it looked like the Pokémon were having a struggle tearing down the barricade.

The experience was, to his surprise, enhanced with a wave a psychic power pushing only the Scizors away (the Absols had immunity, of course). Grotle looked behind to see an exhausted but still awake Kirlia managing to hold the line once more.

Grotle nodded to Kirlia, who nodded back.

But the moment was shattered when the two Pokémon, astounded, saw Kate running down towards them. In her Fine Styler was her Capture Disc. That could never be a good sign in the slightest.

"Guys! We're getting torn up out there!" Kate's voice was urgent and partly defeated. "We don't have a choice. We have to fall back to high ground!"

So, without better choice, they retreated to the tower top with only Grotle to leave a trail of tall grass in a last-ditch effort to slow down the rampaging Pokémon once more.


	14. Vatonage

**Finally, the climax of the Operation Brighton. And... NOOOOOO! Eeveeleah! You've fainted! Wake up!**

**This chapter is the key component in the Operation Brighton series.**

* * *

_**Chapter fourteen: Vatonage**_

Darkrai and the Shadow Crystal stood before Kellyn as if there was a standoff between them. In some respects, it really was a standoff. With the full support of the Shadow Crystal behind him, Darkrai was ready to take on anything. In a parallel respect, Kellyn had a powerful Vatonage Styler equipped with him and backed by the power of the three Tears of Princes gems.

"CAPTURE ON!" Kellyn jumped and fired his Capture Disc.

Like a rocket blast, the Disc shot off in an instant with only Kellyn to guide where it went. To the Top Ranger, it felt different somehow with the power of the gems vibrating on his arm.

So Kellyn gave the Capture Line a shot.

To his amazement and Pachirisu's, the Capture Disc emerged as a brilliant bright line surrounded by the rotating colours of red, blue, and yellow. Indeed, Kellyn could distinctly notice that these identical lights found with the gems were now going to be his prime weapon of choice, and probably the only one, to combat Darkrai.

Kellyn jabbed his Styler arm forward to draw a few loops around Darkrai, and was very relieved at the sight of the Capture Line making complete and effective loops. Unlike the previous one, in which the Line had been dissolved by Darkrai's presence, this Capture Line stayed strong and intact, and stayed together. The Friendship Gauge finally starting to make some progress. The real distinctive difference between this and the previous Capture Line was, really, the sight of a completed loop. Where the initial Capture Line had failed and dissolved into energy, Kellyn saw the Capture Line made Darkrai absorb the three colours infused in the Capture Line (courtesy of the Disc) for every loop.

"**Pachi!**" was the series of united cheers that came from the two Pachirisu's, which prompted Kellyn to work even harder and faster at capturing Darkrai.

But unfortunately that didn't mean the capture was going to be easy.

"Keep running!" Kellyn panted, worried. "Don't – and never – stay in one place guys!"

At the same time, he did his best to keep the Capture Disc around Darkrai and keeping the Capture Line intact. It didn't work out that well, since Kellyn and the Pachirisu's were distracted by Darkrai's black projectiles of Shadow Balls, which consistently blew up on the ground behind where the Top Ranger and the electric squirrels were running. In the process –

_Argh! He shattered the Capture Line!_ Kellyn thought anxiously, looking at the gauges and energy levels on his Styler. The Friendship Gauge didn't make much progress and was depleting, despite the powered-up Styler, and his Styler energy level dropped by a few percent.

Darkrai teleported to a spot near the tower's edge and caused another shock quake.

After a few more completed loops and a decent amount of the Friendship Gauge being filled, Kellyn figured it was time to make a Poké Assist. He motioned for his and Kate's Pachirisu to aim at his Vatonage Styler.

"Poké Assist Electric! Come on, Pachirisu!" he ordered.

The two Pachirisu's simultaneously leapt into the air to fire a bolt of electricity each at Kellyn's Styler. With the Styler monitor now showing an indicator for Poké Assist, Kellyn directed the Capture Disc to a position near Darkrai. Darkrai, unaware of the Poké Assist's effects and consequences, slowly made his way towards Kellyn.

And soon, a potent bolt of electricity landed beside Darkrai, effectively stunning him.

"Capture on!" Kellyn shouted towards Darkrai, and furiously added more loops of the Capture Line around Darkrai.

But it didn't take too long for Darkrai to become unfrozen, though Kellyn used the precious time to the Styler's advantage, and he glided to freely teleport where he wished. Kellyn, knowing he didn't have that much time to use the double Poké Assist much longer, aimed at where Darkrai was stationary.

_I have you now!_ Kellyn confidently thought, and waited for the lightning bolt to land.

But to Kellyn's disbelief, right before the lightning bolt had landed, Darkrai had teleported a short distance behind and the lightning bolt landed without causing much of a difference. The electric sparks disappeared into the air.

"We tried," the Top Ranger sighed.

Despite the minimal effects of the Poké Assist, Kellyn and the Pachisu's were not that keen to give up, not when they were given just another chance of hope with the powers of the Tears of Princes. Kellyn kept his head up and aimed more and more loops around Darkrai.

"Pachi! Pachirisu!" an alarmed squeak came from Kate's Pachirisu.

"What is it, Pachirisu?" Kellyn looked at Pachirisu, startled.

A small dark vortex began to spring up on the centre part of the floor. Knowing what could come next, Kellyn shouted, "Crouch!"

Multiple waves of darkness rippled through the air and overwhelmed Kellyn's senses, let alone the Pachirisu's, of sight. Blinded by darkness, Kellyn fell over and couldn't open his eyes. Darkrai, noticing that, created ripples of dark aura underneath the Capture Disc, causing more extensive damage to the Vatonage Styler.

_Not a problem, being blind… OUCH!_

The electric shock Kellyn received shot down from his body to his core and into his mind. Mainly, when he opened his eyes, he realised that the two Pachirisu's had combined two of the same shocks onto Kellyn's hands. The shocks travelled all the way to Kellyn's mind and tips of his hairs, and made him stand on end.

"Not funny, guys…" Kellyn muttered while flattening his hair. The Pachirisu's in response, laughed. Still aware that a capture was in progress, Kellyn recalled the Capture Disc to the Vatonage Styer to make a brief retreat. When Kellyn was done with that, and had the Capture Disc safely ready for launch, he aimed the Styler at Darkrai one more time.

"Capture… on!"

He aimed the Capture Disc wherever, like before, Darkrai teleported. At one point, Kellyn misjudged Darkrai's intents and accidently had the Capture Line shattered by the shock quake. It hurt, but Kellyn still kept going. The focus remained on completing this _one_ capture –

_Styler's still sitting at about 40% power, I guess there's still enough hope to get this mission done,_ Kellyn thought.

"What the what?!" Kellyn's jaw dropped, as well as the Pachirisu's.

Darkrai rose into the air and looked like he was going to attack, but Kellyn soon realised that the Pokémon of all things dark was creating a massive Dark Void in the air above. Even though the darkness all around the tower prevented much of Kellyn's vision, he could still see the Dark Void begin to expand and kept getting bigger and bigger.

"Fall back! Retreat!" the Top Ranger yelled and full of panic. "It's another of those voids!"

The Pachirisu's and Kellyn ran away as far as they could from Darkrai, given that the void was getting bigger and bigger. Kellyn tried to take advantage of Darkrai's stillness to add a few more loops of the Capture Line. In the short-term, it worked, but soon pools of dark aura rippled on the ground and in the air once more and hit the Capture Disc more than once. This caused more damage to the Vatonage Styler and its energy. Kellyn grimaced at the sight of the energy level dropping to 32%.

_He's practically invincible in this state,_ Kellyn analysed. _Nah. It's difficult to capture him in every single way until the dark power wears off. Are you kidding, Kellyn?! He's empowered by the Shadow Crystal! Since when can the dark power 'wear off'?!_

As for the Dark Void, it also had a sinister appearance of a dark ball cackling with electricity. The Pachirisu's could feel the effects of the dark power like a magnet. It started to force the Pokémon in their direction, but with not a lot of effort. The Pachirisu's, let alone Kellyn, in turn gripped sure footing and continued to retreat.

Darkrai plunged to the ground taking the Dark Void with him and hit the ground. The void absorbed into the floor and began to expand. Kellyn swiped his arm and the Capture Disc completed more loops around Darkrai.

Darkrai took to the blackened skies to evade the Capture Line while continuing to leave dark aura ripples near the ground where the Capture Disc was. It was sort of necessary, since the Capture Disc although facing a hazard of being drawn into the void had the ability as a Fine Styler to move freely in any given space. Kellyn's Styler sustained another percentage of damage and dropped to 30%.

When Kellyn and the Pachirisu's had come to a safe distance and stopped, the Top Ranger turned to guide his Capture Disc to safety. He saw the Pokémon of all things dark finally exhaust the use of the Dark Void and the dark shadow retracted into a small dark orb.

Kellyn began to capture more and more and forcing the three lights into Darkrai, but ever since the Dark Void appeared he realised that Darkrai was getting more tactical: teleporting here and there and performing quick strikes involving quakes. At one point, Darkrai even caused a dark bolt to strike where Kellyn stood, but an instinctive backflip prevent some harm.

The capture was still making progress with Kellyn completing many more loops until Darkrai made an ambush-style quake upon his next teleport. It once again caused more damage to the Styler.

_Warning: Styler energy level at 25%. Proceed capture with extreme caution._

The warning from the Vatonage Styler didn't need to remind Kellyn how dangerous Darkrai was, and as he kept drawing loops he found aiming the Capture Disc at Darkrai was getting increasingly harder. Whenever Darkrai disappeared Kellyn would have to look where it would appear next, and when Kellyn did locate him the Darkrai would launch a surprise quake to attack the Capture Line.

"Okay, one more time, guys!" Kellyn nodded to the Pachirisu's. "Poké Assist Electric!"

The Pachirisu's jumped like before to fire their electric bolts at Kellyn's Styler. Now seeing that the long Friendship Gauge was near filled, Kellyn knew what to do next upon seeing his Styler temporarily filled with electric power. Double electric power, to be exact.

The Capture Disc immediately burst with electricity (like always) to pinpoint a bolt of electricity to land beside Darkrai. And once it did, Kellyn took full utilization of double paralysis to once again draw loops of the Capture Line around Darkrai.

_Vatonage: to draw out the light within darkness_, Kellyn thought while putting all of his strength and mind into the capture. _Could I draw out any remaining light you have, Darkrai?_

The electrically powered Capture Disc spun around Darkrai in twin perpendicular circles. The double electric power did its work at holding Darkrai at bay, and the power of the Tears of Princes did its work in forcing the three lights of blue, red, and yellow to bring the Pokémon to light.

And then, in an absolute moment of stillness, Darkrai stood still with the light of the Capture Line and the Tears of Princes encasing him from all directions. If nothing else, the 'OK!' letters appeared immediately on the monitor of the Vatonage Styler.

"C – Capture complete!" Kellyn shouted and fell back in exhaustion and relief.

* * *

**That's that... and explaining an entire capture right there!**


	15. Dawn Will Come: Mission Clear!

**And here are some of the last chapters of the Operation Brighton series. Eeveeleah, at least you had a max revive, eh? Now you can keep reading!**

**This chapter is still part of the Operation Brighton series.**

**Most of what's here, including scenarios, are credited to Nintendo. I only own some select speech.**

* * *

_**Chapter fifteen: Dawn Will Come: Mission Clear!**_

Darkrai, overwhelmed by the persistent efforts of the Vatonage Styler, began to passively reduce his aggression. Kellyn, in a sort of similar way of calming down, fell flat on his back and stretched. In Kellyn's heart, he was really tired, but relieved.

* * *

A far distance away, at the edge of the stairs, Kate was valiantly holding out against the rampage of Pokémon attempting to break through the grassy barricades of stalks, plants, grass, leaves, and vines on both ends. Kate handled capturing the brainwashed Pokémon while Kirlia used her psychic power to push the Pokémon away (making space and Kate's life a lot easier).

However, as Kate continued to capture the Pokémon, she found that the Pokémon were starting to show fewer signs of aggression and they no longer attacked the barricade. For Kate, she could only presuppose that they were readying for another attack or, perhaps, the Shadow Crystal –

Kate turned around and saw Kellyn sprawled out on the floor.

"Kellyn!" she ran to him, with Grotle and Kirlia abandoning their defences (knowing the hostile Pokémon weren't attacking) and followed Kate.

The Top Ranger rushed to kneel beside her co-worker. There wasn't any need for words to explain what had happened, but Kate decided to confirm it anyway.

"You – you did it?" she breathed.

"Yeah… you got it," was the reply from an exhausted co-worker.

* * *

In an instant after Darkrai had slowly calmed down, the dark clouds that had surrounded Altru Tower earlier began to part and dissipate. Airborne from above, Sven and Wendy were watching the whole scene from their Staraptors.

"The darkness! It looks like it's lifting!" Sven looked at the tower.

Wendy circled once, then twice, before coming to a stop beside Sven. "Yep! Looks like that's the all-clear. We can get close to the Shadow Crystal now!"

And lastly Keith flew up to rejoin Sven and Wendy's side. "Awesome. Operation Brighton is on again! Let's finish this! Go!"

Soaring down, Sven, Wendy, and Keith flew into the Shadow Crystal's direction with the Tears of Princes in each hand. The Staraptors descended gradually, but very quickly, upon the Shadow Crystal and were now at the tower's level. Before Kellyn's eyes, Kate's, and the Pokémon's, the airborne Rangers held out each gem of the Tears of Princes and once again shone their brilliant lights of blue, red, and yellow (beginning with Sven, Wendy, and Keith respectively). The three airborne Rangers flew around the Shadow Crystal in consistent circles and in constant velocity.

Slowly, it appeared that the Shadow Crystal was reacting with the lights. The dark monstrosity then began to radiate and ripple with the colours of blue, red, and yellow.

A bright flash of light exploded in the space around it, and it was too bright for anyone to look at – it enveloped the air around to the reaches of Almia. Kellyn, Kate, and the Pokémon had to shield their eyes from the light…

* * *

When Kate and Kellyn had opened their eyes, they saw the now-calm Darkrai rise into the air in a non-aggressive way unlike Kellyn had previously experienced. Additionally, the lights that showed the Incredible Machine's power level was no longer a vicious red, but had return to a calm green, and only two of the lights, one on each side, were blinking.

The skies were beginning to illuminate with the light of dawn.

When Kellyn finally stood up, with Kate's help, he and Kate saw two shadows appear on the ground beneath Darkrai.

_Is it… them?_ Kate thought.

Slowly, the shadows began to fade into a more solid form, and the solid forms shaped into the images of Blake Hall and Wheeler. Indeed, they were standing on solid ground. It took a while for the two to glance around at the bit of light they could see around them. The former looked to his left and right, wondering what was happening.

Kate and Kellyn looked up to see Darkrai fly above their heads once more and flew off into the distance.

"It's… it's so bright… Am I maybe… I am… I'm… alive?!" Wheeler groaned, but his expression changed to one of surprise upon seeing Blake beside him. "Mr. P-President?! You've saved me? You of all people saved this wretched Wheeler?!"

But on the contrary Blake was speechless. For the Rangers, it was hard to tell what Blake was thinking with the sunglasses on. Judging by the body expression, Blake looked as if he was in deep confusion.

The Altru president was speechless for a moment. "… Wh-Where… Where am I? Am I, perhaps, alive? Or have I…"

"Altru… Yes! This is Altru!" Taking a moment to look around, he began to realise, then admitted, "I… I was caught up… In a terrible nightmare…"

The sounds of marching footsteps came from behind, and the entire group, be it Kate, Kellyn, Blake, Wheeler, Darkrai, and the Pokémon, saw Professor Hastings and Barlow approach them. Under circumstances like these and on top of the tower where the operation was focusing on, Kate and Kellyn would have been extremely shocked to see them making their way up here. But, as fortune would have it, they were too tired to react.

"Ah, so you've finally awoken from your night, it seems," Professor Hastings calmly said. "Isn't that so, Mr. Blake Hall? If you really think about it, what you just experienced isn't the only nightmare you saw."

"What do you mean?" Blake was curious.

"You've only now awoken from the nightmare you've lived for so many years," Hastings continued, and walked up to face Blake (prompting confusion from the latter). Hastings held out a worn-out book. "I have something here that I must return to you. It's… Brighton Hall's diary. That's right (seeing Blake's reaction), it's your father's diary. We at the Union managed to restore it."

Kate and Kellyn recognised the book as the same diary they and Sven had uncovered at the Chroma Highlands. It was hard to believe that, after the looks of it in the first place, it was in good shape.

Glancing at Blake again, Hastings said, "If you'll allow me, may I read some of it aloud?"

"You may," Blake reluctantly agreed.

"Very well…" Hastings opened the book.

"_X month, XX day. The oil reserve is down to half that of last year. I fear for the future of Almia. Today, several mysterious black stones were unearthed from the drilling site. They were unlike anything I had ever seen. They shone with a dark, alluring light. I felt something stir in my heart in response to its fascinating darkness…_"

Hastings flipped to the next entry, saying, "The next page is roughly dated six months later…"

"_X month, XX day. Finally, we discovered a gigantic specimen of the Dark Shard… The Shadow Crystal! However, it is guarded by a Pokémon that is like darkness itself. Though we can see the Shadow Crystal, the Pokémon keeps us at bay. We have no choice but to make do with the small Dark Shards we can collect. They will allow us to continue with our studies on dream-energy sources._"

Hastings paused before he kept going.

"_Today also happened to be my only child Wyatt Hall's 13__th__ birthday. But because I had become so enthralled with studying the crystal, it slipped my mind. I feel bad for having done my son Wyatt wrong…_"

Hastings lifted his eyes from the book and gazed at everyone else for a moment. "Who is this child Wyatt, I dare ask? This is an entry exactly one year later."

"_X month, XX day. Today, my only son reached his 14__th__ birthday. Over my wife's protestations, I changed my son's name from Wyatt to Blake. We, my son and I, held a ceremony near the Shadow Crystal for changing his name. "We dedicated my son, who will lead Altru Inc., to the Shadow Crystal. In return, let the Shadow Crystal's incomparable power flow to my son: may the Shadow Crystal and Blake lead Altru to glory!"_

Taking a breather, Hastings flipped to the remaining pages. "This entry comes roughly two years after Blake's renaming. It's not even dated anymore."

"_I realise now that I made a terrible and terrifying mistake. The Shadow Crystal, over thousands of years, absorbed negative feelings. It took in the darkness from the hearts of people and stored it as energy. My only son Blake has become trapped in its infinite darkness. My own son, who drove me from Altru Inc. to become its youngest president! Blake Hall… No! Wyatt Hall! My son, I promise! I will save you! For the rest of my years, I will do everything I can to free you!_"

"The diary ended with that entry," Hastings stopped and made eye contact with Blake. "Of course, it also contained a wealth of information on other matters such as descriptions of the secrets of the Red, Blue, and Yellow Gems. It also covered the ancient legends of Almia in great detail. While we failed to deciphethe whole thing, on the whole the diary was extremely important. After all, it made Operation Brighton possible."

"As to the three coloured gems, you heard about them from your father, didn't you?" Hastings demanded. "Isn't that correct, President Wyatt Hall?"

As Kate and Kellyn stared from Hastings to Blake, Blake alone was lost in his own thoughts.

"… Wyatt Hall… My real name…" Blake murmured, and then turned to face Hastings. "Just like you said, my father told me the secret of the three gems. But by then, I was already enthralled by the Shadow Crystal. All I could think of was how to remove the Darkrai guarding the Shadow Crystal. You see, I founded Team Dim Sun to collect the small Dark Shards…"

_He admits it!_ The twosome secretly thought.

"But that approach was simply insufficient," Blake said. He then turned to face Barlow, and then to Kate and Kellyn. "The Rangers managed to gather the three gems that eluded my father. Those three gems awakened me from my long nightmare… Operation Brighton… My father finally got his wish to save me today."

Barlow cleared his throat, which grabbed everyone's attention and as well as shattered the moment. "Blake… No, that's Wyatt. You must make amends for your criminal past. When things finally settle down, you're due for some questioning. That being said, escorts have arrived from the Union and are waiting in front of the Altru Building."

Blake waited for Barlow to continue, and Barlow did.

"Let me ask you this," Barlow said. "Can you walk out on your own?"

Blake raised his eyebrows. "You're not trussing me up? You're allowing me to walk out of here_ on my own _to meet the escorts?"

Silence. And Blake took that as a 'yes'.

"Thank you. I'm grateful for your kindness…" Blake nodded.

At a slow pace, he walked across the tower top, away from the Crystal, and went the in direction of the stairs. Wheeler followed him closely. The Rangers, and the professor, personally saw them leave.

"Kate! Kellyn!" Barlow barked, which literally frightening the Ranger duo (it was a solemn moment, only to be ruined by Barlow!). "We've rescued Isaac from captivity, so don't worry about him. But, boy, without his cooperation, I doubt the operation would've had a chance of success."

Barlow took off for the stairs, and simultaneously Kate and Kellyn saw Keith, Sven, and Wendy run towards them. Now they were no longer airborne, they waited for Professor Hastings to speak as he had an open voicemail in his hands.

The voicemail was an open channel to the entire Almia region.

"Rangers!" Hastings declared, speaking into the voicemail. "And all the Union staff, including the Operators, researchers, and all others! Isaac, and all the people who provided us with information! All of you who love Pokémon, you made this victory possible. Your intelligence, courage, and passion solved the biggest crisis in Almia's history!"

Finally, Hastings turned off the voicemail and turned his attention to the five Rangers before him. "Truly," he stated, "you've all gone far beyond the call of duty. The day has been transformed from Altru's birthday to one of celebration for all Almia. Let me finish with my usual words spoken in the best of spirits."

Kellyn, Kate, Keith, Sven, and Wendy could only wear smiles as they waited for Professor Hastings to finish.

"That's it for Operation Brighton…" Hastings shouted. "Mission Clear!"

**Kate and Kellyn did their Ranger poses of a spin and presenting their Vatonage Stylers.**

**Keith's Ranger pose was identical to the duo's, except his was a Fine Styler.**

**Sven did his pose of an aerial flip and showing his Fine Styler.**

**Wendy's pose was like Keith's, except she spun in the other direction to show her Fine Styler.**

"…? Eh?" Professor Hastings said. "Incidentally, you three… You don't seem to have the three gems anymore. What exactly became of them?"

Sven, Wendy, and Keith exchanged glances (implying they had no idea) and turned to look at where the Shadow Crystal stood. Kate, Kellyn, the Pachirisu's, Hastings, Grotle, and Kirlia turned to look at it too.

The Shadow Crystal was no longer there. Only a massive crystal looking like it was carved from pure, clean, ice, though retaining the same shape, was in its place. The three lights of the Tears of Princes continued to orbit around the Crystal in circles. The Crystal was radiant, and it proudly stood alone reflecting beams of dawning sunlight like glitter.

The Luminous Crystal was born.

* * *

In Pueltown West, the young woman from earlier examined the once-agitated local Pokémon with a face of relief. "Look! They don't look like they're suffering anymore!"

The effects of control were wearing off the Bibarel and Chatots she was seeing, and the local across the road said, "The Pokémon are returning to their usual selves!"

With that word said, the Bibarel and Chatots returned to their natural homes.

* * *

In Vien Forest, on the lookout ridge, the Lady of the Ridge and her son watched the Pueltown scenery below them.

"Oh, look, look! The dark cloud over the tower has cleared!" her son said excitedly.

"Oh, yes, so it has!" the Lady of the Ridge beamed. "What a gorgeous dawn!"

* * *

In snow-covered Hia Valley, Mrs. Winter walked outside of her front door to observe why the Pokémon outside had gone quiet. Looking to see the Delibirds and the Abomasnow calming down, she saw those Pokémon head back to safety.

Mrs. Winter smiled.

* * *

In Boyle Volcano and neighbouring Volcano Cave, the Pokémon that fell under control there such as Rhydons, Raichus, and Torkoals shook their heads to clear their minds, and went on their business.

* * *

In Haruba Desert, the Hippopotas that had once roamed wild in the desert and at Haruba Village returned to the high ground. Henry, Hank, and the local were at the scene and watching the Hippopotas return home. Looking at each other, they understood that whatever power of darkness had overtaken these Pokémon: it was no longer there.

Peace, it seemed, had returned to Almia at last.


	16. A Morning of Respite: One Final Mission

**Thanks, Eeveeleah! And as a reward, you get another chapter of the story!**

**This chapter is the last chapter of the Operation Brighton series, where it focuses on the wrap-up events of "Execute Operation Brighton!"**

* * *

_**Chapter sixteen: A Morning of Respite [One Final Mission]**_

An intense upbeat and atmospheric morning was brought by the four notable and only band players of the Go-Rock Quads playing at the heart and centre of Altru Park. Leading the introductory main theme was, as predictable as it was, Billy with the electric guitar, and was supported by his brothers Garret with the bass guitar and Clyde with an expanded drum set of snares, toms, cymbals (crash, ride, and a high-hat), and a bass drum. A particular Pueltown citizen, famous around Almia for his popular works on the piano, went on stage to join them and played the main theme.

Gathered in front of the stage were a crowd of people and the members of the Vientown Ranger Base. The crowds of people jumped up and down listening to the beat and did multiple waves of jumping.

And lining up a short distance behind the crowds were Keith, Rhythmi, Isaac, Melody, Kellyn, and Kate, who all looked like they were enjoying themselves (dare we forget the Pachirisu's, Keith's Buizel, and Kellyn's Grotle and Kirlia). Then, it was a _concert_ by the _Go-Rock Quads_. How could it not be enjoyed? They continued to view the hard-worked performance as Tiffany, the only sister in the band, began to play her piece in the song. Garret and the pianist synchronised tunes.

The sound of running footsteps from both sides drew the six friends' attention to their left and right. To their contentment, Crawford and Luana arrived to join the festivities, and Ranger Leader Barlow, who had a couple of Doduo tailing behind him.

"Whoo-yeah! The Go-Rocks Quads rule!" Barlow shouted with a smiling face. "They're perfect for this hot and sunny Altru's…"

His smiled partly collapsed at the sight of Keith's raised eyebrows.

"Whoops! I mean, Almia's new memorial day!" Barlow quickly corrected.

Isaac gave sigh of relief and approached the Ranger Leader with a relaxed face. "Barlow! Thanks for rescuing me, by the way. Honestly, the way you shouted "Target Clear", yelled like there was no tomorrow, and punched out the beam generator… Its simplicity made it cool!"

Barlow's face flushed. "Aw, Isaac, it was nothing. That should have taken a lot of manpower for even a Pokémon to destroy… glad I could put up a great show!"

Melody dashed over to face Barlow, which Barlow had to look down to see her face.

"My Big Brother says he's taking a holiday today," Melody said. "He said he would be able to play with me all day, and as much as we like!"

Barlow's eyes began to water, just as Billy the lead guitarist began to do his own guitar solo and Clyde began to crash at the ride cymbals and snare drums with Tiffany helping out "That's great," the Ranger Leader beamed. "I'm glad for you, Melody…"

Melody and Isaac stepped back a few steps while Barlow turned around to wipe his eyes.

"Uh oh, Barlow's sprung a leak," Crawford laughed. "In spite of his tough looks and the Target Clear ferocity, he's famous around the Union for crying easily. Try to imagine that. Even I could be one to easily cry like Barlow did, except... well, I'm not Barlow."

Luana and Kate rolled their eyes.

Keith waved at Kate and Kellyn to get their attention.

"Hey, Kate… and Kellyn…" Keith said to them, just quiet enough that he couldn't be heard, but loud enough for Kate and Kellyn to hear him. "Remember the day we all met at Ms. April's room? When the Bidoof fled from Janice and ran wild around the Ranger School?"

_Yeah…?_ Kate thought.

"I managed to beat you, Kate, in the number times we could reclaim all those Bidoof," Keith partly stared off into space to search his memories, but returned his gaze to Kate. "Since that day, though, you had to be the one to bail me and Kellyn out over the Yellow Gem debacle. That's what makes me so glad I got to fish you out from the darkness. It's like I finally got to pay you back just a little for all the help you've given me."

Keith then looked at Kellyn with a very, _very_, smug grin. "For you, Kellyn, I can recall the number of times I got to help you ever since we met, and I'm even gladder to fish you out of the darkness too. So now, I think you ought to pay be back sometime. But then again, I think that –"

"Rest assured, Keith," Kellyn tried to avoid the smugness of Keith. "I think I'd have made up to your efforts with a final capture at Darkrai."

"Fair enough," Keith agreed, still trying to uphold his smug smile but failed. "Okay, you got me there, Kellyn. Still, you _did_ help out with that Magnezone Kate's been telling me about… I'll forgive half of your debts."

Kellyn rolled his eyes. "Wonderful, Keith. That makes me feel 'so much better'."

Barlow broke the conversation with his own words. "People give help and are helped. That goes for Pokémon, too. Everyone lives by helping each other. Don't think of it as what you owe others or what you are owed."

Kellyn glanced at Pachirisu, then to Grotle, and then to Kirlia. It seemed like they agreed with the message Barlow was getting at.

"I guess that sums up my point," Keith the loudmouth grinned.

"Wow, Barlow, did you just make that yourself?" Kate said with wide-open eyes, but the wide-openness soon started to feel droopy.

"Not exactly…" Barlow slowly said. "By the way, this song… About how the king of Almia fell into the embrace of darkness? And how the three princes in blue, red, and yellow drew together? It's just like this storybook my grandma used to read me when I was a kid."

He turned to look at Kate and Kellyn, and chuckled at the sight of the Ranger duo starting to bow the heads with their eyes barely open.

"Kate, and Kellyn, you two look like you're ready to fall asleep," Barlow chuckled. "I know you two have pulled an all-nighter –"

"Indeed we diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid…" Kate yawned, and Kellyn followed the yawn.

"But I've got aaaaaaa Mission for you," Barlow yawned too. "I'll only say this once, so listen well. Are you ready for this Mission?"

Kellyn and Kate stood upright, but nearly stumbled from tiredness, and mumbled, "Yes, sir."

Barlow nodded approvingly, and said, "Go back home to Chicole Village and show your family you're doing fine. And show them the world's one-and-only Vatonage Styler and its younger brother! This is your final Mission from me, am I clear?!"

"Roger!" Kate and Kellyn shouted, now a little more awake than they should be.

Barlow let the two Doduo behind him to walk over to Kate and Kellyn. Kate mounted Doduo first and simply climbed on top of it, with her Pachirisu sitting on her shoulder. Kellyn mounted his simultaneously, and afterwards like Kate invited Pachirisu to sit on his shoulder and Kirlia to set behind him. Grotle would have to go by foot, but the grove Pokémon didn't mind.

"Honestly, Kellyn," Keith crossed his arms. "I've been trained in the ways of a Pokémon Ranger. I've been working with Quests a lot, and I have never, seen Friend Pokémon like yours sticking with you from the early days in Vien Forest to the Chroma Ruins all the way to Altru Tower. Once again, Kellyn, this is just _loyalty_ here. That's crazy!"

Kellyn smirked. "I don't understand it either… but I guess separation can wait. You're right, though. I'm surprised myself to see Pokémon so loyal."

Without realising, let alone noticing, Kellyn was far behind Kate, and she was already at the drawbridge's entry point.

"Whoops! Got to go, Keith!" Kellyn waved. "Grotle, let's go!"

And Keith, along with Barlow, Crawford, Luana, Isaac, and Rhythmi watched Kellyn depart, with that loyal Grotle of Kellyn's quickly following the Doduo at a decent pace in the direction of Pueltown and Vien Forest.

Kate reduced her speed in order for Kellyn to catch up, and looking back she decided to cut Grotle some slack in speed too. It had been a long night for Operation Brighton, so she decided that Grotle needed a well-deserved break from running.

Soon enough, Kellyn, Kate, and Grotle were pacing through the labyrinth of Vien Forest. But now they had Grotle with them, and the grove Pokémon greeting old Pokémon friends and locals in the forest, they descended from higher ground to the charred remains of the burned section of the forest. Before long, Kate and Kellyn were at the borders of Vientown.

* * *

At Vientown, while Kate and Kellyn were bypassing the community, they were heartwarmingly welcomed and cheered upon by the locals, and Elaine and Ollie from the Vientown Base. The twosome happily waved back at them as they paced through. They also saw the milk farmer (Little Tim) and Big Bertha applauding them too.

* * *

And at Chicole Village, where the road ended, Kellyn, Kate, and Kirlia dismounted from their Doduo and the latter was released. It was also at this point that Kellyn and Kate went separate ways. Kate would head off to her left to go to her house, and Kellyn and his Friend Pokémon would head to the right to go to his.

"See you later, Kate," Kellyn smiled.

"Bye, Kellyn," Kate beamed at her co-worker.

For Kate, the heartwarming welcome she received were her parents waiting just outside her front door. The Top Ranger dismounted the Doduo, releasing it, and exhaustingly walked over to her mother and father.

"Mom… dad…" Kate breathed, suddenly feeling light at the sight of her parents.

She rushed over to them with open arms and wrapped around their necks. The response Kate got from them was a gentle hug back.

"Kate… you're home," her mom said.

"Hans the reporter told us most of what had happened," Kate's dad added. "Did you really pull off an all-nighter that long? You don't need to answer, young lady. Of course you did. You must be tired from all that madness."

Kate scoffed. "Yeah… I guess that pretty much fits the description, dad. Man, Hans sure knows how spread the news."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he's writing about it in the Almia Times already," Kate's mom finally let go of her daughter. "But that's another story. Come in! What would you like for breakfast?"

Kate tried to think of response, but drowsiness overcame her senses… "I'm tired, and hungry. That's pretty much it… Wow, I can't even think of what I want for breakfast."

"You know what?" Kate's dad said. "Actually Mom and I fixed you a surprise breakfast. All I need you to do is to grab a bite and some sleep from that all-nighter in your feather bed. Just try not to do too much for the time being, okay?"

Kate couldn't speak at first, but as she walked into the familiar premises of her home with Pachirisu happily hopping around, she replied, "I'll do my best, dad."

* * *

As Kellyn, Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia walked to the front door of the Top Ranger's house, they saw what looked like a gather of three people in front of the house.

"Welcome home, Big Brother!" a voice squeaked.

Kellyn found his waist being wrapped by his little sister's arms. He could only hug Little Sis back, as it felt like he hadn't seen her for weeks.

"Hello, Little Sis," he softly greeted.

"They say you and Kate saved the day! Hans, the reporter for the Almia Times, came and told us!" Little Sis barely could hold her excitement. "He called you two heroes who saved Almia and Pokémon! That. Is. So. Awesome!"

Kellyn still had his arms around Little Sis' head, but he looked to see his mom walk towards him too with a relieved expression.

"I knew that you'd come home this morning," she said. "It's a mother's intuition. That's why I prepared breakfast for you, too. As Hans explained, you didn't sleep a wink last night, did you?"

Kellyn nodded. He was too tired to speak.

"After you eat, go upstairs and have a nice long nap in your plush bed," Kellyn's mom instructed. "Of course I'd know. You pulled off an all-nighter!"

"Kellyn…" his dad walked over to put a hand on Kellyn's shoulder, which somehow made Kellyn feel better. "Welcome home. You never gave up, in spite of all the adversity you faced. As your dad, I'm never felt so proud of you. Come on in! Mom's made us her famous vegetable stew. Let's all dig in!"

With that said, and a jumpy Little Sis, an exhausted Kellyn led the way in followed by Little Sis, Pachirisu, Grotle, Kirlia, his dad and lastly his mom. The only thing left for Kellyn's mom to do was to close the door. Finally, that was the final effort that meant Kellyn (likewise Kate) some peace and rest.

* * *

**And that's the end of the Operation Brighton series! What did I say in the first place? I promised 11 chapters, and here is the wrap up.**

**But there will be a few more chapters to come...**


	17. A Ranger's 'Normal' Morning?

**I'm lucky enough, and lazy enough, to actually be uploading right now, especially when I've got several exams to do next week! Eeveeleah, I haven't forgotten you by the way... just bear with me.**

**This chapter is canon and part of the game, except that it doesn't focus on any Mission or Quest whatsoever. It focuses on the morning seven days after Operation Brighton.**

**What I own here... are genuine Almia Times articles written by me!**

* * *

_**Chapter seventeen: A Ranger's 'Normal' Morning?**_

"Big Brother?"

Silence was a mere reply, and no response, come to that.

"Wake up."

Muffled and instant movement followed.

"Wah! You woke up easier than I thought!"

"Go away, Little Sis, please…" Kellyn drowsily and tiredly yawned under his bed covers, only that his voice was muffled and drowned by his covers. "I need rest…"

Little Sis put her hands on her hips. "Big Brother! You've been sleeping like this for the past seven days! Don't you think you might be pushing it a _little_ too far? Operation Brighton was a week ago, but the Almia Times is still writing about it…"

This prompted the Top Ranger to reluctantly pull the bed covers away from his head and take a grab at his favourite newspaper, which Little Sis had in her hands, but she pulled the paper away from him. Kellyn shook his head at a degree where he gave up.

Finally, Little Sis handed it back to him after she had her fun, saying, "It really was something special, wasn't it?"

"Did you guess that?" Kellyn joked, as he held the paper in front of him to have an extensive read at the headlines. "Of course it was something special!"

Somehow, a photo was attached to the front cover showing Kellyn making his dramatic capture against Darkrai. That didn't make sense. How could Hans ever get a photo op from the top? Kellyn was puzzled beyond understanding.

_It'd either be a secret camera inside my Styler_, Kellyn thought, _or maybe it might have been Kate taking photos the entire time._

**Almia Times Vol. 13**

**Top Ranger saves Almia!**

_**Reporter Hans/ Almia Times**_

_The Pokémon Ranger Union is presently still releasing more details of the incidents that happened at Altru Tower last week, with the named Union completing final and finishing investigations on the tower on their operative codenamed 'Operation Brighton'. Details released so far about Operation Brighton primarily involve the heroics of Pokémon Top Ranger Kellyn who, with the assistance of his fellow Rangers Kate and Keith, captured a 'Pokémon of darkness itself' named Darkrai. Secondarily, shared credit for the success of Operation Brighton goes to Top Ranger Kate for her service in defending Kellyn from unnecessary attacks from other Pokémon controlled by the darkness. Further details released by the Union include that the 'Shadow Crystal' (see previous issue for details) was responsible for the darkness that had spread through Almia seven days ago. After Top Ranger Kellyn had successfully captured the Darkrai, his fellow Top Rangers Sven, Keith, and Wendy provided the necessary measures to 'purify' the Shadow Crystal into the Luminous Crystal we see. As of today, the Altru Tower will hereafter be renamed the Peace Tower with the Luminous Crystal as its spotlight, and will be open to the public on weekdays from dawn to dusk. Needless to say Darkrai was last sighted testing the skies around Peace Tower._

Kellyn glanced at the next photo, which showed him and Kate riding the two Doduo through the community of Vientown and a glance of Big Bertha and Little Tim.

_Kate and Kellyn, after the covert Operation Brighton, were reported to have attended the Go-Rock Quads concert after the events at Altru Tower. Also the entire Vientown Ranger Base, present at the concert, returned safely to their respective base afterwards. Currently, they are taking a well-deserved rest they so needed after pulling off such an uncompromising all-nighter._

Little Sis watched her brother smoothly glide through the contents of the headlines. From her point of view, he was reading the bottom half of the front page. Printed on the front was a photo of Altru Tower at night, when the campaign was in progress.

**Altru Tower Revealed as Giant Gigaremo!**

_**Reporter Heather/ Almia Times Ranger Union and Hia Valley**_

_A recent research file released by the Ranger Union indicated Altru Tower was indeed a 'giant Gigaremo'. According to the report, the so-called giant Gigaremo was codenamed by Team Dim Sun as the 'Incredible Machine', which had a capability to extend permanent control of all Pokémon to the boundaries of Almia, whether they were in a cave or underwater, with the exception of some Pokémon captured by a Ranger. However, although the Ranger Union has yet to disclose details how, the Incredible Machine was destroyed in the middle of the operation._

Kellyn read the other headlined article that a photo showing Barlow watching former Altru president Blake Hall and Wheeler walking away from the Luminous Crystal and down the stairs.

**Altru Inc. Was Team Dim Sun! Pres. Blake Hall the Mastermind?!**

_**Reporter Hans/ Almia Times**_

_More details released about Operation Brighton as guaranteed by the published report by the Ranger Union reveal, and confirm, Altru Inc. was a cover-up for the sinister Team Dim Sun. At least half of Team Dim Sun suspects apprehended and in custody of the Ranger Union admitted that Team Dim Sun was the true identity of the present Altru Inc. Former Altru President Blake Hall also admitted that Team Dim Sun was his doing and making and had his undertakings going for over a year. The Ranger Union suspects, along with eyewitness accounts from several of the elite Top Rangers, Team Dim Sun had started their undertakings from the Ranger School's basement, but there was no evidence found when the Ranger Union investigated the area for five days. Ranger Union and Altru researcher Isaac claims that his former teacher had wiped out data evidence long beforehand, though his words may be justified on the account of Top Rangers Kate and Keith._

"_Frankly, when I first heard about Altru being a cover-up," said Top Ranger Sven after the operation, "I was quite shocked myself. It looked promising that Altru would find a possible discovery for reusable energy, and who'd have thought that that would be Team Dim Sun in disguise?"_

_Chairperson Erma of the Union said, "With all that we have gathered about Altru, Team Dim Sun, and the Shadow Crystal all across Almia, we can only conclude that Blake Hall was behind all of those criminal feats. Furthermore, he admitted this in the presence of two Top Rangers and the Union's Pokémon professor (meaning Hastings). Blake Hall will continue to remain in the custody of the authorities until a more appropriate time to make amends."_

_Currently, Altru Inc. is now a legitimate energy-research corporation with aims to find a sustainable use of energy and resources and Altru Building will be open for most of the day to the public. Working with a wealthy energy corporation from the distant Sinnoh region, Altru's hopes for their goals may be severely boosted. The suspected teacher, known by the Ranger Union, is on the run._

Kellyn glanced at the last headline article, which showed no photo but a humble text box.

**A Hearty Thanks to All Rangers!**

_**Reporter Hilbert/ Almia Times International**_

_The region of Almia would like to thank the Ranger Union on behalf of all the citizens of Almia for bringing undisputed peace in the region. Despite the number of Rangers who didn't participate in the operation at Altru Tower, they were still active in preserving the safety and nature of Almia during the time of crisis. From the reaches of Chroma Road to marine areas of Puel Sea, at least one Ranger was present in every known area of Almia to ensure the protection of humans and Pokémon alike. That kind of safeguarding has been recognised all around Almia, and the region of Almia would like to thank and support the Rangers for their non-stop efforts to keep Almia's image at its best. Furthermore, the thanks to all Rangers would like to extend to Rangers in neighbouring regions under Ranger Union sanction for all their efforts in preserving the peace and nature. Once again, thank you, Pokémon Rangers, for allowing Almia to live in peace once more!_

Kellyn was so absorbed in reading his paper that he didn't notice his little sister waving to him.

"Hel-lo…! Big Brother!" she sang. "Mom was calling for you downstairs!"

"Oh… okay," Kellyn muttered, as if he wasn't paying attention. True enough, he was too focused in reading the issue of the Almia Times. Little Sis sighed and walked back downstairs. Kellyn on the other hand was reading an article about Pueltown, and that Altru Inc. had announced their cancellation on the redevelopment plans for Pueltown…

* * *

One house away, Kate had already dressed up in her Ranger uniform and prepared to have a hearty breakfast with her parents. It looked like it was a good morning, but –

"Hey, mom! Have you seen my Styler?!" Kate shouted in panic.

"Katherine, this isn't the first time that you've misplaced it!" her mother shouted back. "It's your fault that you couldn't keep yourself organised!"

Unbeknownst to anyone in the Ranger Union and outside of it, Kate had been performing and experimenting technical modifications to her Vatonage Fine Styler. Though the Ranger Union, Erma in particular, had told her often to never to take her Styler apart, Kate couldn't resist the temptation to work on her Styler at home. To prove her point, she purchased a mechanical operations set in Pueltown, complete with a screwdriver.

"Mom!" Kate protested.

"Have some breakfast, Katherine. The Styler can wait, but hot food certainly can't."

Reluctantly, Kate removed herself from the premises of her upstairs room to eat a hot breakfast.

"You've got a call from Chairperson Erma, dear," her mom said. "She wants to see you at the Union when time is most convenient for you."

"Aw… but I don't have my Styler!" Kate grew even more frustrated once she took her seat at the table. "I'll need it if I want to get a quick ride to the Union!"

"You could always ask Kellyn, you know," Kate's mom suggested.

"But that'd still make me look bad in front of the Union!"

"Tell you what, Kate," her mom said. "Eat your breakfast, and I'll go upstairs to look for you Styler. That being said, I'm dreading what your room will look like after you've had your hands on that mechanics set."

Kate decided to relax and helped herself to a milk pudding, with her Pachirisu linearly eating another milk pudding. For the hot meal, Kate found an appetizing meal of oatmeal sprinkled with dried berries and a healthy serving of potatoes served with a side of parfait and buttered toast. If nothing else, a handful of almonds, cashews, and yogurt chips served as a dessert.

Typically, at home only, Kate had a side knack for leaving things around and not knowing where they would win up. Ironically, that knack didn't exist _outside_ of home, and instead was replaced by a professional Ranger's mindset. So if Kate would misplace something her mother would have some sort of intuition that told her where Kate would place her things from cupboards to drawers to underneath the beds to sewage pipes. Kate's mom wasn't in the slightest surprised to find a _mess_ in Kate's room.

_You never cease to amaze me, Katherine_, she thought as she walked right into the room.

On Kate's desk were the Ranger's mechanics set and a _lot_ of blueprints and papers about the Fine Styler. The mechanical kit was wide open with wrenches, screwdrivers, and electronic parts taken out of it.

Buried underneath all that mess was Kate's Vatonage Fine Styler.

* * *

"Good morning, Grotle, and mom," Kellyn greeted his Friend Pokémon resting peacefully on the carpet. Kirlia, on the other hand, was sleeping on the sofa. Little Sis seemed, from Kellyn's previous seven days' experience at home, to enjoy Kirlia's presence and treated her like an everyday friend. Not once did Kellyn see Little Sis not playing with her. Pachirisu and Grotle only lounged around Chicole Village.

"Oh, did she wake you up again?" his mom turned from her cooking. "Ah, I told her to let you sleep some more. You've had an exhausting day back at Altru Tower, so I figured you really needed some rest. Seems like she can't get away from you, huh?"

"Eheheh…" Little Sis put a hand on her lips.

Kellyn walked over to the kitchen to grab a croissant, a fruit pastry, and a cup of tea. The Top Ranger welcomed the sight of breakfast but had to put his Vatonage Styler aside to not get it dirty. Conversely, Pachirisu helped himself to a cup of milk pudding.

"So, Chairperson Erma called," Kellyn's mom said. "She wants to see you at the Union."

Kellyn lifted up his head, not putting down his milk pudding. "What?"

"Oh, she called hours ago," his mother continued. "However my better judgement I decided to let you sleep a few more hours. It seems now that was in vain, given we have your little sister who refused to let you sleep for another hours in exchange for a glance at the Almia Times…"

"Not my fault," Little Sis crossed her arms. Giving a breath of faked exasperation, she turned to walk around the house with Kirlia in tow. Needless to say, the latter didn't mind Little Sis dragging her around everywhere.

Kellyn instead decided to walk outside bringing a croissant in his hand, with Pachirisu perched on his shoulder.

* * *

"Morning, Kellyn!" one of Kellyn's neighbours greeted.

"Oh, good morning!" Kellyn greeted in reply.

Chicole Village was as rural and natural as Kellyn could remember. Around Chicole Village, there were no commercial or industrial sites around, which meant that the village was not suited to be a place of commerce. With nothing but natural green trees around, one could naturally tell that Chicole Village was meant to be a residential block only. Sure enough, most of the grassy area was dotted with private homes with the exception of the southern property owned by Kellyn's dad, where the two Rangers would keep their Partner Pokémon at the Partner Farm (grassland and a beach were enough to keep the Pokémon comfortable and at home).

The Top Ranger glanced around for a moment, and began to walk.

* * *

For Kate, the most she could notice when going out of her house was the plain state Chicole Village was in. The trees were gently blowing with the wind, and she could hear the little children playing freely. It seemed hard to believe that this existing peacetime was because of her participation with the campaign.

The sunshine glowed brilliantly onto her face, and accompanying that was the scent of an active barbeque from a neighbouring home. Looking around, she saw a familiar face walking through the streets of Chicole Village.

"Hey! Kellyn!" she called out from a not-so-far distance.

Kate waved at her co-worker, and in response Kellyn walked to her with a modest smile.

"Having a good day, Kate?" he asked, and in a contrasted response Kate's face fell a bit. "Ah… I suppose not. What did you do?"

"Oh, I don't know…" she quietly said. "Maybe I… lost my Styler?"

Kate didn't want to say it at first, in the case she could get _really_ embarrassed in front of her co-worker and friend, but then again this was _Kellyn_ she was talking to. If there was anyone she would talk to, it would be the trustworthy and friendly-natured Kellyn she had known since Ranger School.

Right?

How wrong she was.

"You WHAT?" Kellyn shot, which made his Partner Pokémon fall onto the ground in shock. "You… I…! I don't believe this!"

"Holditholditholdit, Kellyn!" Kate stammered, before the former could talk any further. "Let me rephrase that: I lost my Styler in my _home_. There's no harm in that, eh?"

Kellyn sighed, kneeled down to pick up his Pachirisu (who happily treated the gesture like he didn't fall off in the first place, and got up to look at Kate again.

"Honestly speaking, you're very irresponsible when it comes to your own home," Kellyn calmly criticised. "Anyway, since it's your own house I guess I could let that one slip. After all, you've got the VN Program in there! That's like Vatona and Nage's best efforts in there! Don't let it go to waste."

"I try, Kellyn," Kate retorted.

They walked together in silence. After they had walked a length of Chicole Village, and the two Pachirisu's had raced around each house at least twice, the two Top Rangers returned home after their walk. Somehow, after those moments of silence and thinking, Kate had a sudden thought.

"Say, Kellyn!" Kate's eyes widened. "I forgot! I have to go to the Union!"

Kellyn's mind began to search for a familiar memory, and realised he forgot something too.

"No! I have to go to the Union too!"

Within the next minute, Kellyn and Kate, with the Pachirisu's, rushed to their respective homes to fulfil their individual objectives. Kellyn had to go and pick up Grotle and Kirlia, and Kate had to find her still-missing Vatonage Fine Styler.

* * *

"Big Brother? You're home early," said Little Sis.

"Not now, Little Sis, I'm late," Kellyn rushed to find Grotle as he burst in. "Kirlia, we have to go."

Kirlia was sitting on the chair and apparently was playing a friendly game of chess with Little Sis. Though Kirlia and Little Sis had little experience with the game, they decided to play anyway. Now, that game's end seemed to draw ever nearer.

"We're supposed to be at the Union, Kirlia! Grotle!" Kellyn urged desperately. "Hurry! We don't want to keep the Chairperson waiting!"

In minutes, the Top Ranger and his Friend Pokémon were tearing away to the outside from the comfortable surroundings of home.

* * *

"Mom! Dad! I'm back!" Kate rushed into her home, exhausted.

"Kate –" her dad started.

"No, dad, I'm in a rush!" the Top Ranger rushed upstairs and into her room. In contrast, her parents walked up the stairs in a slow pace.

Upon reaching her room, Kate's mind buzzed with possibilities where she might have put down her Vatonage Fine Styler. _She only brought it back the previous night and was working on it until her eyelids fell_, so where could it have gone?

"Kate," Kate's mom said in a stern voice.

"Not now, I'm busy!" Kate started to reach for drawers and wardrobes and looking to see if there was any chance her Styler was found –

"KATE!" her parents roared.

This time, the Ranger was forced to look at her parents. Kate realised after a flush of embarrassment that in her mother's arms was the Styler she had been looking for the whole time. She timidly approached her mother.

"Uh… oops," Kate said in a tiny voice, and reached for the Styler.

"Oops indeed," her mother replied.

Kate had never felt so awkward upon leaving her house.

* * *

At the Chicole Path, a simple short stretch of road linking Chicole Village and Vientown, a flock of Staraptor were casually and lazily flying around in circles several feet above the ground. Since the road alone was short and wide, Kate captured two Staraptor altogether while Kellyn captured a third. Like the Chroma Highlands, Kate would ride one with Pachirisu, Kellyn and Kirlia would share one, and Grotle would be carried alone by the third Staraptor.

Grotle had reason to be afraid of heights, given that he was securely held on by the Staraptor's claws. He could never tell if a sudden gust of wind or maybe turbulence could throw him off and plunge him to the ground below. Kirlia and the Pachirisu's didn't have reason, since they were sitting with their respective Rangers!

_I know that a flight to the Union shouldn't take _that _long_, Kate thought, as she with the other two Staraptors began to fly directly northwest towards a familiar complex: an incredibly massive four-storey building with lush leaves on top. _Still, why aren't we there yet?_

Despite using Staraptor flight travel almost every time, the view, with the ground far beneath them and a deep-coloured sky above them, proved to be breathtaking as always. For most of the trip, the view was mostly the Vien Forest below with Kate flying over trees and free-flowing rivers that proved traveling through there was inaccessible. She took note of the waterfall as a one-way journey to the main path from the Union Road…

But that's another story.

Kate turned her head to see how Grotle was holding up and, independently, so did Kellyn. Although they had travelled by Staraptor many times, they always had some concern for Grotle since the grove Pokémon was by nature heavy. Never had a Staraptor failed them in a trip.

* * *

"Thanks, Staraptor," Kellyn said as he dismounted. "See you again."

Kate, after she had dismounted, went over to release the Staraptor that had carried Grotle over to the doors of the Ranger Union. The doors themselves watched over by an Area Ranger stood waiting in anticipation for the Top Ranger duo to walk in.

"Come on, you guys…" the Area Ranger casually taunted, with her lips curving into a smile, "you don't want to be late, do you?"

"Wha–?" Kate's mouth parted. "Who told you about that?"

"Oh, the news has been circling around the Union for an hour or two," the Area Ranger said. "I've been told that we were expecting you two to arrive, that and the entire Union, but I don't think anyone would have expected that you'd be late!"

Could the morning have gotten any more rushed? Kate couldn't think of an appropriate answer, nor did Kellyn, and nor did the Pokémon.

* * *

**A/N: the above fictional writing is, and I'm not joking, describing 50 seconds of gameplay!**


	18. A Favour for Rhythmi

**FINALLY! I've finished my exams and can now continue to upload free of worries for a week.**

**You know what's really special about this chapter? The amount of words it has is OVER 9000!**

**"WHAT, 9000?! THERE'S NO WAY THAT CAN BE RIGHT!"**

**Alas, it is...**

**Anyway, this chapter is a very expanded focus on the Quest "Roserade Red? Roserade Blue?"**

* * *

_**Chapter eighteen: A Favour for Rhythmi**_

Before long, Kate and Kellyn were standing before Chairperson Erma in the Ranger Union's control room. Aside from the horrific time the two Top Rangers had failed to keep, the room seemed to look perfectly normal. Even Erma didn't seem to mind at all, based on her calm and warm expression. Kate and Kellyn, on the other hand, were sweating.

"Welcome, dears," she greeted. "Did you have a nice rest?"

"Yes, we did," Kate replied with a fluent smile.

Erma had a file folder in her hands and opened it to read the contents. "To put debrief in a few words: repairs to the Ranger Union HQ took longer than we expected, despite having efficient engineers, construction crews, electricians, and water technicians working around the clock putting repairs together. Blake Hall is serving time for now until his appearance in court, and Team Dim Sun has officially disbanded."

The elderly woman lowered the file. "Any questions?"

"I do, actually," Kellyn said. "What about the Sinis Trio? Have they been sighted anywhere?"

"I'm afraid not," Erma answered. "There's an arrest warrant issued by the undercover International Police for information leading to their arrest, and while we should be wary of that, it's really none of our business."

She cleared her throat. "Kate and Kellyn: in recognition of your services in Operation Brighton and non-stop commitment as a Ranger, I am officially certifying you two to Ranger Rank 10."

Proud of that achievement, Kate and Kellyn, with the Pachirisu's, did their Ranger poses to mark the occasion. Rank 10 meant that put them at equal level with the elite Rangers Lunick and Solana as well as receiving recognition as one of the elite themselves (though not above a Leader, of course). They followed this with handshakes with each other and Erma.

"That pretty much wraps up debrief, though the outcomes of the research gathered by the Union remain classified," Erma explained. "I also have a small gift for you two."

The two newly ranked 10 Rangers raised their eyebrows as Erma walked over to give them what looked like a couple of tickets.

"These are passes for entry to the Capture Arena, where some say you can test your capturing skills to the limit," she explained. "It's a place I think you should check out sometime, though as for its whereabouts I have no idea where."

"Incidentally…" Erma smiled, seeing the just-about-to-ask-questions look on the two Rangers. "Though we may have finished our works on Operation Brighton and might as well have done Almia a huge favour, a Ranger's work is never finished."

"I understand, Chairperson," Kate said. "Anything more?"

"Well, you two could always check the newly-opened archive in the Union HQ lobby and revel in your progress," said the Chairperson. "There are always local citizens requesting for our service and, of course, you could try to help the Union to complete the impossible task of completing the Browser for future archives. You can try your luck there. Speaking of which, there's been reports of new Pokémon sighted around Almia, so they would be in places where you've most likely have been to."

After debriefing, and the two Top Rangers receiving the Rank 10 badge on their uniforms, Kellyn and Kate happily turned away from Erma. They had their own agendas, with Kellyn wanting to go outside and Kate wanting to check out the roof of the Union.

"I guess I'll see you soon," Kate said. "You can wait for me outside."

"Why not?" Kellyn humorously smiled. "Grotle, Kirlia, Pachirisu, and I are going to run a few errands for Haruba Village. They say their oasis has dried up again from the sandstorms and they need it repaired and filled, but I'm going over there first to make sure it's really happening. Grotle's going to help me find the Blastoise later. I'll be back after that."

"You do that," Kate waved Kellyn good-bye and turned around to approach the escalator.

From what she could remember, the top of the Ranger Union was like a natural private park, with its deceptively covered treetop and grassy flooring. There were supposed to be three pedestals where the three gems had previously stood too –

"WHOA! YOU CAN'T GO UP!" a voice yelled at maximum volume. "STOP! STOP!"

Kate, in shock, nearly stumbled to the ground. It didn't help to know that whoever shouted in her ear had also grabbed her head and pushed it to the floor, and as a result Kate hit the floor with a loud _bang_.

"Ow…" she muffled.

"Whoops, sorry Kate," Rhythmi apologised and extended a hand to help the Ranger up. "But still, you can't go up. Not today."

"Uh… why?" Kate raised her eyebrows.

"The roses aren't…" Linda started.

Rhythmi's eyes returned to the furious state Kate had seen earlier as she walked toward them. Rhythmi then stared right into Kate's eyes.

"Oh, yes, you can help us with this!" she shouted, though the need was unnecessary since Kate was only a foot away. "The rose in a Roserade's right hand… What colour was it? Red? Or blue?"

"You don't have to yell in my ear, you know!" Kate shouted back. "And why would you want me to bring a Roserade to you at this very moment?"

"We're…" Linda trailed off for the slightest moment, as if she were making up thoughts and ejecting them in moments. "We're arguing over that. Whether a Roserade's right hand is red or blue, we need to know. Honestly, we're really, really fighting over that!"

Kate pondered a moment before flipping her Vatonage Fine Styler on. "Okay, I've got the data saved onto my Styler. Just give me a moment…"

"NO!" Rhythmi roared, and this forced Kate to dive to the ground. "We don't want to see your Styler! We need a genuine Roserade here and now! Pretty please! Think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime plea? We want you to go capture a Roserade right now!"

Kate rolled her eyes.

"And if I say no?" she skeptically asked.

"Then you'll have to back off," Rhythmi answered intimidatingly. "We're arguing over here, and don't come between us!"

"But that's no excuse to not let me go upstairs," Kate tried to return the glare Rhythmi was giving her, but failed. "Here. How about I go capture a Roselia instead? Those are more common to find and they _do _have the same qualities as a Roserade."

Rhythmi crossed her arms.

"Forget it, Kate. We need a Roserade, and you can take the deal or leave it," she said.

Linda was at least more sympathetic. "I've heard, and some say, a Roserade lives deep in a forest somewhere, so at least you've got some leads. I suppose any Ranger could be up to the task, but please it has to be you to do it!"

Kate did a quick Ranger pose to mark a Quest was ongoing.

"I'll get one for you guys as soon as I can," Kate promised. "I just don't get why you don't need a Roselia. It's a lot easier, you know…"

* * *

Kate stormed out of the sliding doors of the Ranger Union. There was no need to talk. She was a man – er – woman on a mission. Her powerful stances caught the attention of fellow nearby Area Rangers, but she didn't care. She was going to find that Roserade sooner or later, and then get to the top of the Ranger Union.

_The Vien Forest is a ways away_, she planned. _I better take a good patrol of the forest then._

Kate captured a Doduo and went on a mounted hurry toward Pueltown.

Agility could be the only thing to define Kate's progress at the moment. Sure, she had plenty of time to spare since the Quest was nowhere near a rush, but she still wished she could have had a look at the roof of the Ranger Union. That being said, why did Rhythmi and Linda have to form a roadblock to the stairs anyway? Was it because they were keeping something secret?

_Darn it! If only Grotle was here, he would have told me where to find that Roserade without a problem!_ Kate angrily thought. _But Kellyn's going to Haruba Village at this point!_

Shaking off the regrettable thought for not bringing Grotle with her, Kate tore through the Union Road, past the flowing river by the side, and past the local houses. Pachirisu, on the other hand, tested her running skills alongside the Doduo.

After a few minutes of constant running (and think about it: a few minutes of running is a _lot _of distance to cover), Pachirisu jumped back onto Kate's shoulder, and they hurried past the tall trees and free-flowing sounds of Union Road. En route they passed the Peril Cliffs and the house where Vatona and Nage's dad lived.

The ride went on with Kate guiding Doduo to keep heading forward, and they passed yet another house (for those who care, it belonged to a berry jam-making family) and many more green trees, with only a few of them cut down.

Eventually, the two made their way to the familiar paved roads of Altru Park.

* * *

The urban area of Altru Park, showcased by fountains, benches, parks, flowers, and the center stage for special occasions, was quite different from what Kate had remembered from earlier. Only seven days ago, there was a huge crowd gathered to watch the performances of the Go-Rock Quads. Now, as Kate saw it, the park had returned to its natural and quiet state.

Being a show-off, especially in a place like Altru Park, would be one of the last things Kate would want to do provided she would rush through the tranquility of the park. Instead, Kate adjusted her speed to a jogging pace. After the peaceful ride through, she privately and practically tore through the bridge linking Altru Park and Pueltown as if she yearned to go that fast.

"Let me know if you see a Roserade anywhere, Pachirisu," she reminded her Partner Pokémon.

Mounted on a Doduo, the Top Ranger dashed through the streets of Pueltown Central to make the approach south, where the Vien Forest was located. Ideally, the route was a steep climb up to high ground, and traversing through the forest was not a short matter. Now, on a Doduo, Kate could get the trip done in less than half the time.

In fact, she had done this same trip just a week earlier.

After passing the local Ranger Depot and under the bridge in Pueltown Central, officially leaving civilization, Kate went on to make the climb.

* * *

It first began with a bypassing of the crystal-clear pond on the opening stretch of Vien Forest road. Despite Kate's speed, she did her best to find a Roserade lurking anywhere on the way by. But if it just so happened that she couldn't run across one…

_I'd have to make a full-on survey of the _entire_ Vien Forest! That'd be the worst-case scenario in any given matter!_ Kate thought, as she hurried up the concrete steps leading to high ground, and as well failed to find a Roserade anywhere. Furthermore, to make it worse for Kate, she couldn't locate a Roserade even after taking a patrol of the high ground (where, on the top, the Lady of the Ridge and her son reported that they hadn't seen a Roserade in the vicinity).

Kate quickly glanced from tree to tree on the pathway, but the search proved to be fruitless.

So, after concluding there wasn't a Roserade in the area, Kate left for lower ground.

"You better not have been lying to me, Linda…" Kate grumbled, "'cause there's not a single Roserade around these parts…"

Dashing away on the Doduo, Kate realised that she had winded up back to the charred remains of the Vien Forest (it seemed so long ago since the forest fire there). Knowing that a Roserade wouldn't be a likely occurrence in this part of the forest, Kate briefly surveyed the area from top to bottom and left to right before crossing the river to the greener half of the forest.

* * *

"Kate! Welcome back!" Barlow greeted, seeing the Top Ranger lazily walk right in. "And you've been promoted to Rank 10?! Congratulations!"

The Vientown Base crew applauded with Barlow, and Kate (and Pachirisu) simply looked flattered with the ovation.

"Well," Kate said, trying to be modest. "Kellyn got promoted too, come to that. He's off on a Quest in Haruba Village, so…"

"I understand," Barlow interrupted. "That being said, are you on a Quest yourself?"

Kate crossed her arms, her mood becoming a little darker.

"Well, I _am_," she emphasised. "It's just that I've been asked by my Operator friends to find and capture a Roserade for them, and it's hard to say WHERE to find it, since it's supposed to be somewhere in the entire Vien Forest!"

Kate kicked the ground with one swipe, and then began an uncomforting pacing around the Base. Barlow and Crawford were amused.

"Come on, Kate, it's just the Vien Forest," Crawford 'reasoned'. "You've only got to search every section of the forest. That's all. Just grab a Staraptor and look around!"

"_Just grab?_" Kate hissed. "There's hundreds of thousands of Pokémon in the Vien Forest. You're expecting me to 'just grab' a Staraptor and hope I'll run into a Roserade? That takes a lot of nerve to do a task like that. It's impossible."

She went over to take a seat and sulked. Right then and there, and made the Vientown Ranger Base crew snort a few laughs. Luana walked to Kate with a grin and pat her gently on the head.

"You've got a Quest to finish, Kate. See that it's done and over with," Luana said. "You're going to have to survey the entire Vien Forest whether you like it or not! Alternatively, you could always pass the Quest to Kellyn if it's too much for you."

Reluctantly, upon hearing Kellyn's name and even worse thinking of how he would react to be given an ongoing Quest (_He'd probably think that I would damage a Top Ranger's reputation_, Kate thought), Kate got up and walked out of the door.

"When you're done, Kate, see that you hand in your survey results back to the base," Barlow reminded. "We don't want any loose ends."

* * *

Pachirisu, on the other hand, tagged Kate along to go to instead of Vien Forest but the School Road. Running east of Vientown, Kate found that Pachirisu really wanted Kate to capture a Doduo, but Kate reckoned they would do just fine without one.

So, in the end, they ended up starting a survey of Vien Forest. On foot.

It began with the initial survey of the main route south of the river, where local Pokémon known well by the residents of Vientown resided. It was highly unlikely that Kate would find a Roserade there given that the Ranger Base made frequent patrols here and would have reported, filed, and documented any unusual sightings in this vicinity.

"There's no Roserade here, Pachirisu," Kate said sadly. "We're going to have to keep looking, and it's not going to be anywhere on the usual path. Come to that, we've even patrolled most of these parts of the road without much luck either."

Pachirisu stopped to look up at the Ranger.

"Yeah, I might be going crazy, but there's no way we can find that Roserade around here, yet the Vien Forest would be the only natural place we would ever find one," Kate calculated.

Pachirisu shrugged.

_Where else would I ever find Pokémon in general other than the main path?_ Kate thought. _Of course, it'd be obvious to try to find Pokémon _off_ the path but still…_

Once again, Kate and Pachirisu began a second patrol of the route as the day wore on, with the patrol of the charred remains of the centre of Vien Forest. As expected, Kate didn't find a Roserade there, and chose to travel to high ground.

_Well, at least the survey is well worth the view once more_.

She was at the top of the ridge overlooking a large portion of Almia's coast and the entire municipality of Pueltown. Across, she could glimpse a shining light far across on the top of Altru Tower. Kate presupposed it was the Luminous Crystal.

"It was a while ago, but a Ranger was knocked flying here on this ridge right from the tower," a voice said beside her. It was the Lady of the Ridge. "He landed on this spot and somehow miraculously survived, if not getting a broken bone or two. I woke him up tended to his bumps and bruises and he took off right after that."

"Did you ever see him again?" Kate asked while formulating a guess at who the Ranger might have been. Well, there was only one Ranger she remembered who was sent flying away.

"Well, he came calling the other day, just so he could thank me," the lady stared into space for a moment before adding, "I think he said his name was Keith."

_Ah_, Kate thought.

However, Kate decided to really veer off from the main road as she descended from the ridge (at the bottom of high ground) to survey a few steep ledges (instead of taking the road to Pueltown). Supposedly there were more Pokémon, and possibly rare ones, located in the deeper parts of the forest. If it was true, she would find one or two confined in the lower sections during her survey.

The Doduo she was travelling on edged past trees and eventually came to a rocky ledge, previously blocked by a fallen tree, overlooking parts of the southern half of Vien forest. Kate and Pachirisu looked down below to see a grassy ground and what looked like the entrance to a cavern.

"Going down," Kate urged Doduo.

They jumped.

And they landed safely on the grass ground.

To Kate's surprise, she did see a cave _and_ an explorer right beside the entrance. From where Kate had stood above on the ledge, the ledge had large outcroppings that partially blocked her view and the said explorer was directly beneath one, which had completely blocked Kate's view. But now, she could see that she wasn't alone.

"I had no idea people would come to visit these parts," she said to the explorer.

"_Well_…" he cleared his throat. "I'm from Pueltown, actually. There's always a rare Pokémon inside this cave here. And to your credit, Ranger, you're right. It's rare for a guy to be here every day like me too. Ha!"

_Could it be…?!_ Kate had her hopes up. She carefully dismounted from Doduo and walked into the cave with Pachirisu in the hope that a Roserade could be found there.

And when she did walk into the cave, she saw not a Roserade, but a Salamence.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Kate screamed in disbelief.

The Salamence was nearly thrown into panic at the Top Ranger's scream.

* * *

Soon enough, Kate was riding the same Doduo back in the direction of Pueltown. Since the path right next to her was indeed the same slope that had stairs to walk back down to the path to Pueltown, it wasn't that hard for Kate to get back to civilisation.

However, Kate was stumped at wondering where to find a _Roserade_. Why, as she rode into Pueltown, couldn't she capture a Roselia? They were near related, but Rhythmi wouldn't agree. Worse, she had surveyed a good portion of Vien Forest already. Where else was it possible to survey…

"The west section of course," Kate rolled her eyes, speaking to her Pachirisu. "But there isn't a road that can lead us straight to there. We'd have to explore our way through trees and clever mapping from the Styler. It's pretty sketchy, you know."

Her Partner Pokémon shrugged.

Upon reaching Pueltown, Kate used her Styler to observe her map of Almia and in particular the sections of land surrounding the Vien Forest. Vientown, of course, was the main community at the southern fringe of the forest. Pueltown was to the north of the forest. West of Vien Forest was an endless mass of forested ground, with a cliff that connected the forest to the ground above via waterfall. East was the shoreline overlooking the coast of Almia.

_We haven't checked the east and west perimeters in the forest_, Kate thought. _Still, it's part of doing a survey, anyway._

Mounting on Doduo again, Kate took off for the ridge outlook at the top of high ground. There was a possibility that she might find a Roserade there…

* * *

But when Kate arrived there, she realised that it was near impossible to venture into the eastern side. Pokémon: yes. But Pokémon Rangers? They weren't trained to venture _that_ far deep into the forest. Still, it was at least worth doing a survey only once.

"This is like the second or third time I'm checking this spot," Kate groaned.

Soon enough, she was venturing into unmarked territory of the forbidden eastern area of Vien Forest. There were dozens and dozens of Pokémon living in this section that even Kate never knew lived here. Maneuvering past trees, Kate went deeper into the unknown.

Doduo dashed between trees with frighteningly accuracy. Sometimes, Pachirisu and Kate would have to duck their heads down just so that their heads would strike the branches above. Eventually, Kate realised that it would be safer to travel along the edge of the vicinity, but sadly it was likely that she wouldn't find a Roserade there.

_LINDA!_ Kate angrily thought. _You better not be lying to me that a Roserade does live here!_

Afterwards, Kate came to a breathtaking clearing of the ocean from the top of high ground. The Puel Sea and the Sea of Wailord, as well as the distant land masses of Boyleland and Haruba Desert were viewable from here.

Still, there was no Roserade.

Kate explored the forested land once, and then twice, before she turned around to return to the main route in Vien Forest.

* * *

As Kate travelled back to Pueltown, she impatiently searched up the Almia region maps in order to attain more details of the Vien Forest. Truly, the forest was huge. But she had just done a survey of many legitimate, public, and undiscovered sections of the forest. There just had to be more options of knowing where to go.

_I've done the eastern section already, and its one place that no one from the public or a Ranger should go_, Kate thought. _There's always the western part, but there's the issue of how to get there._

There were several sections of water that cut through the Vien Forest, and one of those included a waterfall on the high ground that flowed from a river in Crysta Cave to becoming a natural border separating Vien Forest into north and south halves.

During the survey, Kate also had the option of surveying the western forest, but that involved scaling the impossibly steep and rocky cliffs of the waterfall, and Kate wasn't prepared to do that. Not when she had to wander into more undiscovered territory, and certainly not without backup at least. If nothing else, the waterfall was at a dangerous altitude.

_There must be another way_, she thought; _a way where I can still survey the forest from up there._

The time had arrived, she decided, to release Doduo back into the wild. Kate dismounted from the Pokémon and waved Doduo good-bye. An exhausted Doduo looked back at Kate.

"Thanks for helping out, Doduo. See you later," Kate said.

Doduo took the message and nodded before leaving.

Nearby, just a short distance away from the borders of Pueltown, Kate swiped her Vatonage Fine Styler at a Staraptor to make a quick capture. It wasn't long before she was airborne.

Kate and Pachirisu had seen this view countless times, but never took time to _really_ look at it.

"There's the waterfall," Kate said to herself and Pachirisu. "The water leads from the Vien Forest and up the waterfall, where it keeps travelling upward."

"Pachi! Pachirisu! Pachi!" her Partner Pokémon pointed excitedly.

Kate didn't need to ask what Pachirisu was getting at. Below, the river traced all the way to Crysta Cave –

"Oh, wait a minute," Kate mentally slapped herself. "It _is_ Crysta Cave! We can survey starting from there via Dream…"

Pachirisu waited for Kate to keep talking, but the Ranger instead urged the Staraptor to shift direction.

"Staraptor!" Kate ordered. "Take us to the Ranger Union!"

* * *

They made a touchdown on the front doors of the Ranger Union and no sooner had Kate released Staraptor and hurried over to the Union Road. On the way down the stairs, Kate was surprised to see the same Doduo she used from the Vien Forest survey still lounging around the vicinity of the Ranger Union. That was fine by her.

_So you've come back here already_, she thought. _That's incredible_.

A dock near the Dream River on the Union Road provided strategic base for Rangers and civilians to transport goods from the commercial centres to the cold outskirts of Hia Valley. However, Kate had no intent for going to Hia Valley up north. In fact, she intended to do just the opposite. As always, there were naturally Floatzel lurking around the grassy sides of the Union Road, so like before, she targeted that Pokémon as her capture.

"Capture on," she calmly said, and like the Staraptor from earlier captured that Floatzel on the spot. As a Top Ranger, Kate would be sure that the capture was efficient. Someday, she would have to arrange a speed competition with her fellow Rangers someday. The Floatzel ran over to her.

"Time for a quick ride, Floatzel," Kate instructed. The Pokémon complied with Kate's request and leapt into the water, subsequently floating. The Top Ranger responded with a friendly jump on top of Floatzel and the two, along with Kate's Pachirisu, began to ferry south of Dream River.

As Floatzel continued to ride with the flowing current of the river, Kate realised that they, along with the Union Road, were to some extent on high ground. This meant, Kate deduced, they were going to have to head downward eventually.

It was a gentle, silent, and soothing trip. All Kate really heard was the gentle sound of calm water trickling against her legs and Floatzel. On the sides of the river, Kate saw plenty of Aipom's and Pikachu's happily playing on the banks of Dream River. Wartortle's followed her gaze as Kate quietly accelerated with the current and watched the trees fly by.

Indeed. She did have to take off from high ground.

"Whoa – whoa – whoa –WHOA!"

The Pokémon Ranger's eyes became very, very, round when she saw what was up ahead. Indeed, it was the waterfall she had seen so many times from when she was airborne. Kate never thought that she would have to head down the waterfall itself.

Sure, Kate had her share of jumping down deep holes in Hippowdon Temple or uncertain crevasses in the Chroma Ruins, so… why should she be afraid?

Bracing herself, Kate awaited the inevitable.

Floatzel tore for the waterfall.

They propelled with the current, but the waterfall was at such a steep angle that Kate really had to scream to avert mass panic. They tore down faster and faster –

SPLASH

Essentially, at the speed they were going at, it ended with a deep dive into the river below. Fortunately, the river wasn't shallow, so there was no matter for harm. The only thing that did matter now was that Kate and Pachirisu were completely drenched in fresh water from head to toe.

"Ugh…" Kate raised a hand to wipe the water off her face, and then her hair. "Never going to do that again…"

Pachirisu hopped playfully on the Ranger's shoulder.

"But it _was_ fun! I'll grant that!" Kate quickly added.

After a moment to relax and relieve the adrenaline from the steep waterfall rush, Kate and Floatzel slowly resumed their journey through Vien Forest. Kate didn't need to remind herself that she was still in the middle of a survey, but then again this was a section of the forest she had never explored before. So… why not look now?

Right up in front, Kate could see the banks of another section of land in the Vien Forest. Like everything around her, it was covered in lush grass and trees, but of course the only way to get to it was by formally disembarking off Floatzel on a nearby dock.

So instead, Kate merely maneuvered around the piece of land and ferried with the current.

By the time she had gotten through a good length of the river, Kate finally noticed a noticeable wooden dock around the river's direction (and Kate determined that after leaving that waterfall, they shouldn't consider themselves on Dream River anymore, or should they?). Sighing with some relief, Kate approached the dock, disembarked, and released Floatzel.

"Thanks," she waved, and the Floatzel waved back before submerging into the water.

Up ahead, where the island was, really was a small island. On the evident contrary at a tremendous scale, where Kate was standing on was actually the other half of Vien Forest. To be exact, this was the western section of Vien Forest where Kate had often seen from the airborne perspective, and where she thought was completely inaccessible.

Casually walking forward and across the wooden bridge, she noticed a lot of tall grass and purely undisturbed forested habitat. Pokémon here were living like they always did, and in harmony if nothing else. For a Pokémon Ranger, that was a complete day's work.

**A sound, a crescendo of a falling projectile, rang above.**

Instinctively, Kate grabbed Pachirisu and rolled aside.

Sure enough, a Forretress crashed onto the grass just a few feet away from Kate's foot.

"Uh…" she stared blankly at Pachirisu. "RUN."

The two of them began the daring run through the tall grass and avoiding more Forretress potentially falling on their heads. Since Forretress' exterior was basically a steel shell, a land on the head could be extremely fatal.

Naturally, Kate had more than enough experience in the field when it came to dangerous head-on and front-line hazards. Operation Brighton had proved more than enough of that. So by instinct and probable anticipation, Kate could detect the shadow of the falling Forretress and avoid it before it landed on the grass.

That could be said for the other Forretress following the first one, but that was no excuse to be lenient on avoiding.

Further progress involved Kate and Pachirisu walking deeper into the forest.

But fortunately there was only so much tall grass in that one area. Mainly because there were only a few dense patches of tall grass and the rest was just a dirt and grass path. For Kate, she merely had to maneuver past patches of tall grass, avoid Forretress, and survey the area.

Throughout the survey, Kate took into account of several Pikachu, Lopunny, and Kricketune who lived here, let alone a Floatzel. In a calculative instinct, Kate went to capture the Floatzel as a means to have a ride out.

Even deeper into the forest was a field of tall grass that slowed Kate's movement by at least half. She and Pachirisu had to swish past blades of grass while avoiding the wild Pokémon that existed here. Why, even a Luxio lived in these parts!

"Hope this is all worth it…" Kate grumbled.

She brushed past more tall grass and then Kate had an idea: she would use the side of the path where there was a _lot_ less tall grass growing around. As a result, Kate managed to actually run past the tall grass on her side and approached the entrance of a cavern, located at the base of high ground.

Curiosity got some of the best of Kate and she walked into the cavern, as part of her Vien Forest survey. Inside, she found a monument with some braille carved into it. The indicator read that it needed a very strong Crush Field Move in order to be effective…

But that's another story, and Kate recorded the results into her report.

* * *

The Top Ranger and her Partner Pokémon stepped out of the cavern and back into daylight when Kate finally noticed a very familiar Pokémon lounging around the premises. It had a face not unlike a masquerade, and it had large roses for hands…

"Roserade!" Kate said excitedly.

Taking the Roserade by surprise, Kate armed and raised her Vatonage Fine Styler.

"Capture on!"

The Capture Disc shot off and trailed the Capture Line right behind it. Roserade, now aware of Kate's presence, began to move on the defensive and fired Poison Stings from its petals. They hit and shattered the Capture Line.

"Ouch," Kate muttered, feeling the shudder of her Styler.

Although the strengthening components of the Fine Styler made their use by absorbing much of the shock, Kate came to realise that capturing Roserade was going to be somewhat… persistent.

But her skills with the Styler also proved their worth, as Kate could see the Friendship Gauge on her Styler monitor consistently rise. It wouldn't take too long before Kate ended up completing the capture.

But of course, as she predicted, Roserade was persistent, as a blast of glittering spores erupted from Roserade and shattered the Capture Line again. In turn, the Styler was partly damaged. Still, Kate noticed that with consistent and unbroken loops the Friendship Gauge did fill up faster than if Kate did short loops.

Nevertheless, Kate was a Top Ranger who had helped save the region.

In the end, Kate utilised Pachirisu's electric Poké Assist to temporarily stun the Roserade and complete the capture.

"YES!" Kate roared. It was as if all her effort had been put into capturing this _one_ elusive Pokémon and that it was worth it. In some respect, given all the effort she had put into surveying the entire Vien Forest left to right, it did seem worthwhile. Speaking of which, Kate marked the occasion with a survey entry of Roserade's whereabouts into her report.

* * *

The party traveled back to the pier near the waterfall shortly after where the pier was.

The river, quite apparently flowing south, ran alongside the island. Kate then realised that the river had to lead somewhere eventually. And besides, as an adaptive scenario, she probably had to travel that way to find a way out.

With the Floatzel she had earlier, Kate, Pachirisu, and Roserade hopped onto the Floatzel where they began to begin journeying with the river current, since travelling up the waterfall was clearly impossible.

Floatzel ferried and maneuvered with the current as Kate watched the trees pass by. The current did its work with Floatzel merely gliding along with remarkable speed. Kate also saw the area she had just surveyed for Roserade pass by.

Later on, as they went further down the river, she bypassed a fisherman ("How did _he_ get here?" Kate would wonder) and Kate would give her regards to him. In exchange, the fisherman would wave back with a casual reply, "Don't ask me if they're biting, okay?"

Beside the shore near the fisherman was a wild Leafeon, a pretty rare Pokémon in these parts of Almia and it was also the first time Kate had seen one. Allowing Pachirisu to take the front view, Kate wrote down and entered the Leafeon's whereabouts into her survey report. There was a nearby dock on her right (the western side) and a comfortable-looking grass shore on her left as she traveled around it and further through the river.

It finally dawned on Kate where this was.

_This is…_ Kate's eyes widened at the sight, _where… where we found Grotle the first time!_

She instantly recognised, despite being months ago, the little section of grassland near beside the river. It wasn't large, but it looked at least livable for a Pokémon. Excited with the familiarity of the area, Kate went just a little further to find another dock on her left.

Ahead was the bridge she, Kellyn, and Grotle had been trying to protect to valiantly when the Vien Forest was on fire.

Kate disembarked on the dock and released the Floatzel.

"Pachi! Pachi!" Pachirisu jumped up and down.

"I know…" Kate stared.

Where she had disembarked was the spot where she had captured the Blastoise so long ago during the forest fire crisis. Indeed, the Blastoise was lounging around near the shoreline. Pachirisu scurried forward to the familiar path where the still-burned Vien Forest stood.

It appeared that the survey was officially finished.

"Looks like I'm back," Kate gave a sigh of relief.

* * *

Before Kate could even think about going back to the Ranger Union, she had to go back to the Ranger Base first, where she would hand in her survey report to Barlow. When she arrived at the Ranger Base, Kate was welcomed once more by her old friends.

"You found the Roserade, eh?" Barlow complimented, and clapped a hand on Kate's shoulder. "I knew you had it in you. By the way, how was your survey?"

Kate, sighing and very relieved, downloaded the contents from her Styler onto the Base computer, printed it, and then handed the report to Barlow.

"It seems like you've had quite a journey, Kate!" Luana said in a happy manner. "I'd like to read your report when Leader's done with it. I admit, it's a pretty thick report, but…"

"And how," Crawford added.

Knowing the Ranger Base, the report would undergo a series of long procedures and reviewing by Barlow. The report would then be authorised by both the Ranger Base and the Ranger Union, whilst giving Kate her feedback, and then would be archived into the records of the Ranger Base. In the end, the report would provide valuable backup information for Operators and Rangers working in the area.

"I guess that's all you needed to do," Barlow concluded. "Apart from fulfilling your objective and your Quest, you've given information no Ranger has dared to do. Why, you've even traveled to the unknown sections of the eastern shores of Vien Forest, let alone archiving the Pokémon living there. Obviously, this sort of achievement deserves some merit."

"Thanks, Barlow, but I think I can live with just a regular old survey. Besides, I need to finish my Quest, so I'm off to the Union now," Kate said.

"Don't be modest, Kate. You've certainly done something!" Luana raised a fist. "We should erect a monument for this kind of effort."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Do as you please."

* * *

After that was over with, Kate still had a Quest to finish. Hoping not to keep Rhythmi waiting, Kate wearily walked outside to capture a Staraptor near the Chicole Path.

She suddenly realised how tired she was.

"When we get back to the Union, Pachirisu," Kate said, "the first thing I'm going to do is take a nice, long, rest. You're welcome to join me if you'd like, Pachirisu."

Pachirisu excitedly jumped on the Staraptor's back before Kate mounted on the bird Pokémon. This was shortly followed by Roserade climbing on behind Kate. Quickly, Kate and her Pokémon were airborne once more.

_It sure feels like a while, though it's only the same day!_ Kate thought as she watched the view of the entire Vien Forest from above. For once, the Vien Forest didn't look so foreign anymore ever since she had completed that survey. Now with that report handed in, it seemed like Kate knew the forest a little bit better.

She could see the Dream River flowing from the Ranger Union grounds, or the Union Road to be more exact, through a series of currents and then flowing down the waterfall Kate had travelled down earlier. From this view, the waterfall was much taller than Kate thought it would have been before, and not to mention the rest of Almia.

It turned out that the Union Road was located on high ground, let alone the Ranger Union.

* * *

"Thanks Staraptor, see you again," Kate waved good-bye to Staraptor, and the latter gave a mere nod before tearing off into the skies once again.

With Pachirisu and Roserade following her, an exhausted Kate marched right into the Ranger Union. Truth be told: she must have spent the entire day going through such a Quest. As Kate looked above her head, she saw the sun starting to set over the horizon.

Kate hurried through the Ranger Union's lobby, quite concurrently running up the escalator, and ran across the second floor. Pachirisu could naturally keep up with Kate's pace. But for Roserade: not so much.

"Whew," Kate realised just how thirsty she was and, if nothing else, hungry beyond reason.

Between hunger, thirst, and the need for sleep, Kate was fried.

"Yo! Kate!" Rhythmi called out to her as soon as Kate slowly reached the control room in the Union HQ. For the Operator, she patiently waited for the Ranger to make her way to the escalator behind her. "Hey… you've got the Roserade!"

"Yeah, I have her alright!" Kate glared. "I sure hope that getting Roserade here was worthwhile, because I've been through a _lot_ just to get this Quest done! I had to search through every tree and blade of grass in the Vien Forest for _the whole day_ just for you guys. If nothing else, I sure hope I wasn't wasting my time! For crying out loud, I could've brought a Roselia to shorten the trip, but _no_…! Rhythmi and Linda said it just _had_ to be a Roserade instead!HeH"

Rhythmi and Linda exchanged uncomfortable glances at Kate's ferocity.

"Well, Kate, you see…" Rhythmi started, but Kate cut her off.

"No excuses, Rhythmi," Kate glared, and now was making Rhythmi and Linda very uncomfortable. "You probably crossed a line telling me to grab a Roserade instead of a Roselia. Honestly speaking, I didn't need the entire day to see it through."

And with that being said, Kate and Pachirisu whipped around in frustration.

It was only then Kate stopped dead in her tracks.

Standing right behind her was Kellyn, with Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia standing right behind him.

"Oh, hey, Kate…" he smiled. "Did I miss anything?"

"Oh, uh… nothing much…" Kate said in a rather small voice.

Kirlia read Kate's mind and put her hands on her own hips, at the same time shaking her head. Kirlia then quietly communicated what Kate was thinking to Grotle and Pachirisu, and Grotle gave a nod of direct approval in Kirlia's response. Fortunately for Kate, Kirlia chose not to disclose that to Kellyn.

"Hmm… you seem fired up, judging by your red cheeks," Kellyn examined. "It's either that or you're blushing. However, you're breathing pretty heavily to be blushing, so…"

He peeked behind Kate to see Rhythmi and Linda bowing their heads down in shame.

"What did you exactly do, Kate?"

But before Kate could even answer with angry remarks, Rhythmi interjected her before Kate could utter a sound. "Kellyn! Welcome back! Come on up! Quick!"

She and Linda motioned for Kellyn to follow them up the escalator. Clearly, without a doubt in Kate's mind, it was a pretext to evade the hypercritical complaints she was about to bring heavily upon them.

Reluctantly, Kate followed dully behind with Pachirisu and Roserade in tow. They had gone through that much trouble to locate Roserade… and now Rhythmi appeared to be rejecting her? She had simply crossed too many lines today.

* * *

In the large park above the Ranger Union, where bright green clean-cut grass was the only flooring visible along with the overlooking tree surrounded by a glimmering lake, Kate was welcomed by the sight of flowers set up in multiple cubic pedestals filled with soil. Two large steel containers lay on the grass, and a large snack cart was positioned across the room.

For Kellyn, he looked overjoyed to see such a sight. His Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia felt a wave a relief overcome their senses at the same sight.

For Kate, she looked appalled at the sight. Her Pachirisu's jaw dropped, and Roserade merely shrugged. It was bittersweet for Kate. Sure, it might have been very rewarding to see all the goods laid around, but for what Kate went through… for _this_… was not worth it.

Ready to take her anger to the next level, she glared at Rhythmi first, and then Linda. She opened her mouth to speak, first by beginning to draw a breath.

"Sorry for lying to you…" Linda said timidly. "We were getting ready for this surprise party, and… we thought up that Quest so we could keep the party a secret from you. Kellyn over there told us he was far away at Haruba Desert, and then he had to make round trips from Vien Forest to Haruba Village and back…"

"And you seriously thought that a Roserade was enough to buy you time?" Kate curtly forced her words. "It was definitely more than enough… a Roserade! For crying out loud! Roserade… That wasn't worth my time to capture one. I had to search every known and unknown part of the Vien Forest to find one! And further still, I conducted a survey of every undiscovered section of the forest! Why, you…!"

Kellyn put a hand on her shoulder. "Take a few deep breaths, Kate. Relax."

"That's Quest Clear!" Rhythmi shouted. "Okay, everyone! You can come in now!"

Kate reluctantly spun around to do her Ranger pose and confirm a Quest Clear.

_You could have told me not to go up the escalator in the first place_, she thought. _That would have saved me a lot of time… time I could have used for better purposes…_

Chairperson Erma was the first to walk up the escalator. For the elderly lady, she grinned. "Oh, my, isn't this pretty!"

Kate still had a strong feeling of resentment against Rhythmi and Linda for _this_.

"Party! It's a party, I say!" said a rushed voice. Along with the rushed voice were rushed footsteps. Professor Hastings appeared on the park with his trademark cane from the escalator. He walked over to join Erma at the base of the incredibly large tree.

The resentful feelings against Rhythmi and Linda in Kate continued to burn.

"Linda and Rhythmi, you set this up by yourselves?" Wendy appeared on the park, and then walked over to the other side of the room. "Nice!"

Sven gave his accolade to Rhythmi and Linda when he arrived. "Ladies, you've really outdone yourselves. Personally, I'm touched, even." The Top Ranger went to stand behind Rhythmi.

The very same resentful feelings burned thoroughly enough, and Kate still kept her fists clenched. Silence occupied her mind.

Last but not least Keith rushed up the escalator. "Ooh! Now doesn't that smell appetizing?!"

He went across the room to stand beside Wendy.

"Is everyone here?" Linda stated, while getting Rhythmi to help her put down a picnic mat and a very, very, large basket on the mat from the snack cart. Linda put down an extra basket loaded with loaves of baked bread, and placed the drink containers and soup on the mat.

"You bet," Keith spoke up.

"Whatever…" Kate darkly sulked.

"Rhythmi, opening remarks, please," Linda motioned to the Operator.

All eyes, except for Kate's, were upon Rhythmi. "Huh? Me?" Rhythmi pointed at herself. "… This is nerve wracking… Uh… Hello, everyone. Thank you for attending our party. We, that's Linda and me, wanted to do something to thank our Rangers. It's to show appreciation for their perilous heroics during Operation Brighton."

She breathed, and then looked to Linda once more.

"Thank you, Rhythmi," Linda stared off in different directions to each Ranger. "Now, without further ado, and in honour of your great success in Operation Brighton…"

She opened the basket, and raised a glass of sparkling water.

"**CHEERS!**" everyone shouted.

Everyone, that is, except Kate.

* * *

"What's with Kate?" Keith quietly asked Kellyn. "She's been acting really quiet."

"I don't have a clear idea myself," Kellyn replied, and glanced at his co-worker. "She seemed really fine this morning in her usual, optimistic, self. I'm guessing it must have had something to do with what she did today. That Roserade… I don't see why she's so fired up over it, but when I ran into her downstairs she seemed really angry over it."

Keith looked just as confused as Kellyn was. He reached over to butter his bread.

Speaking of Kate, she was angrily curled up against herself a short distance away from the party. It was apparent that she was not having a good time. As hungry and thirsty Kate was, she couldn't bear to take the food that she had completely wasted her time working for. Breathing hard, she was in no condition for talking.

The Pachirisus were munching away on bags of chips. At the same time, Kirlia and Grotle retrieved grilled goods from the snack cart and were also happily eating away. For everyone else, they were very social.

"Maybe I'll go pour Kate some sparkling water," Keith suggested.

"Eh. Do it for the pleasure," Kellyn added. "She hasn't had anything to drink since she got back."

A bottle of sparkling water was poured into a glass by Keith, which he got up to give to Kate.

"You're looking pretty down, Kate," Keith swished the water around in a circular motion. "You're looking pretty thirsty too. Haven't you had any water?"

Silence was his reply from a quiet Kate.

"Come on, Kate. If I'm going to put this glass beside you the least you could do is knock it over," Keith said, and actually put the glass beside Kate. "When you've knocked the glass over and spilled the water, I'll make sure Kellyn has a sandwich ready for you to throw away."

Keith ended up walking away, leaving Kate in a strange state.

* * *

"And she's…?" Kellyn raised an eyebrow.

"Yep, she drank the water," Keith reported out of the corner of his eye. "You and I know Kate pretty well already. She's going to –"

"Eat the sandwich," Kellyn finished for him, and the two sitting Rangers ended up laughing.

And sure enough, as Kellyn and Keith had exactly predicted, Kate tiredly walked over to Kellyn, snatched the completed sandwich from his hands, and practically put the whole thing into her mouth. Smiling to each other, Keith and Kellyn prepared a bowl of hearty soup for Kate.

"And then," Keith started.

"She'll be back in eight minutes," Kellyn finished.

Within eight minutes, Kate had reverted back to her usual self thanks to her two fellow Rangers, and without much occurring incident either.

* * *

The party had concluded with everyone contributing to the cleanup effort. Even Kate was up and working alongside Sven and Wendy with the packing of the snack cart. Pokémon included, the room was cleaned and the materials either properly discarded or cleaned.

* * *

Back at the Union control room, Kate met up with Rhythmi once more.

"I couldn't give this to you earlier because of the party," Rhythmi said and walked up to Kate holding what looked like a data file in a memory stick. "It's a Bug Defence upgrade for your Styler, so… yeah, enjoy!"

The data was quickly installed into Kate's Vatonage Fine Styler in seconds.

"Okay. Back to work!" Rhythmi smiled, and she went back to her respective seat in front of the massive computer.

Kate, on the other hand, gave a huge sigh of relief and walked across the room.

"Yo! Kate!"

Kate turned around to see Kellyn running towards here, with his respective Pokémon running right behind him.

"Uh… yes, Kellyn?"

"What exactly did you do today?" Kellyn asked. "I'm just wondering. I mean, I did a lot today trying to bring that Blastoise to Haruba Village, and then I got curious as to what you were doing or where you went. From what I could see, you were pretty angry at Rhythmi for some reason."

Kate rubbed her eyes, and still realised she had the same Roserade with her. Instead of answering Kellyn, Kate set about releasing the Pokémon.

"I guess you're really not needed here," Kate said. "Sorry I took up your time."

Roserade made a communicative motion, which Kate interpreted as _No matter_ and then the Pokémon was off on its way back to the Union doors, where it would lead back out into the Vien Forest further south.

"I'm still not getting an answer, Kate," Kellyn was patient, but he did find it a little irritable that Kate wasn't answering his question. Kate, instead, copied the data she had received from Rhythmi onto Kellyn's Vatonage Styler.

"I spent pretty much the entire day working for this upgrade," Kate finally answered. "I can tell you it definitely wasn't a piece of cake. Anyway, I'm really tired, so I guess I'm going to sleep in at the Union tonight."

Kellyn and Pachirisu watched Kate walk away to the escalator leading downstairs, where the sleeping rooms were held. It didn't make sense to Kellyn _what_ had gotten Kate so frustrated earlier, and _he_ thought that bringing a Blastoise with him onto a boat was bad enough.

* * *

Inside the sleeping rooms, Kate felt tired and restless at the same time. Oh, the horror of wanting to sleep and yet not wanting to close her eyes was quite unbearable. Propping herself onto the bed, Kate tried fruitlessly to sleep.

_Rest… I need rest…_ Kate thought, but her mind was also plagued by Rhythmi and Linda's 'treachery'. Sure, she enjoyed the party, but was it really worth surveying the entire Vien Forest for a single yet rare Pokémon?

No one said a Ranger's work was ever going to be easy. That was a fact. But no one said that a Ranger's work had to be enduring. To Kate, Rhythmi definitely owed her a massive favour.

After a while, Kate was completely burned out and exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

**I can only imagine the kind of frustration I've had when I did this Quest at first, and deep down I'm still a bit angry at this Quest just like Kate. At least until I actually found out where Roserade actually was.**


End file.
